75,000 AI-generated songs are being uploaded to streaming platforms every single day. 85% of the streams on those tracks are bots. And the platforms you pay every month are choosing to do nothing about it.

In this episode of Tech 4 Grown-Ups, Michael breaks down a number buried in a Deezer report that he hasn't been able to stop thinking about, and what it reveals about AI, fraud, platform incentives, and something even bigger; whether we have quietly started accepting imitation in places where we used to demand the real thing. This is not just a music story. It is a digital literacy story, a fraud story, and an honesty story, and it affects every person who uses Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music.

In this episode:

• The Deezer report: 44% of all new music uploaded to major platforms is AI-generated, that is 75,000 fake songs every single day

• Why 85% of streams on those AI tracks are fraudulent bots collecting real royalty money from real musicians

• Why Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music have the technology to detect and label AI content — and are choosing not to use it

• Robert Greene's hidden dynamic: what do the platforms actually gain from silence, and what do you lose

• A retired music teacher from the Tech 4 Grown-Ups community who said; "Music was the one place I thought we were still safe"

• Ryan Holiday on the difference between being a student of something and merely consuming it and what that means for how we listen

• What Marcus Aurelius and Seneca have to say about obstacles, authenticity, and the things that cannot be automated

• Four practical things you can do right now; pay attention to who made what you're hearing, support real artists directly, demand better from platforms, and stay informed

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💬 Does it matter to you whether a human made what you're listening to? Leave a comment.