Nordic Digital Music Survey 2026: Although the general use of AI has increased, Nordic people demand transparency and human creativity in music
Artificial intelligence has quickly become part of everyday life in the Nordic countries, but attitudes towards AI-generated music has become more critical than before. This is revealed by the recent Nordic Digital Music Survey 2026 conducted by the Nordic copyright societies of music creators Teosto (Finland), Koda (Denmark) and TONO (Norway).
According to the newly published survey, the share of Swedes, Finns, Norwegians and Danes who use AI in their everyday lives or at work has increased from 20% to 66% in just two years. At the same time, attitudes towards AI-generated music have become significantly more critical.
The majority, nearly 80 per cent, of Nordic people think that AI-generated music produced without human creative input should be clearly labelled as such on the channels where it is made available. In 2024, only 58% of respondents supported such labelling. Attitudes towards AI-generated music are most critical in Finland: as many as 81% of Finns believe that music produced without human creative input should be clearly labelled as such.
Three out of four (74%) Nordic respondents would like to have the option to completely filter AI-generated music out of the recommendations and playlists provided by streaming services. More than half (54%) would prefer a streaming service that only contains music created by humans, although only one in five (21%) would be willing to pay more for such a service. The figures for Finns are highly similar.
Finns are among the most critical in the Nordic countries
The value placed on human creative input in music is particularly pronounced in Finland compared to the other Nordic countries. As many as 79% of Finns think that music creators should have the right to decide whether their music can be used as training data for AI services. In addition, 67 per cent of Finns think that politicians should ensure that AI services do not undermine the financial standing of those who create music.
“Based on the survey, it appears that even though the use of AI in everyday life has become commonplace for almost everyone, attitudes towards AI-generated music have become highly critical. Human-created music still has value. It is clear that people in the Nordic countries – and Finns in particular – expect that the livelihood of music creators be secured even in the age of AI. This gives Teosto and other copyright societies a strong mandate to ensure that human creative work remains valued and that copyrights are also defended in the age of AI,” says Jenni Kyntölä, Chief Legal Officer at Teosto.
Finns at a glance 2026: attitudes towards AI-generated music
- 81% of Finns would like AI-generated music to be clearly labelled as such on music streaming services.
- 74% would like to have the option to filter AI-generated music out of the recommendations and playlists provided by streaming services.
- 67% think that politicians should ensure that AI services do not undermine the livelihood of music creators.
- 79% of Finns think that music creators should be able to decide whether their music can be used as training data for AI services.
- 69% think that creators should receive compensation if AI services use their music to create new content.
The survey measuring digital music, TV and film listening and viewing habits in Finland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden was conducted in August 2026 in cooperation with Teosto, the Danish copyright society Koda and the Norwegian TONO. More than 4,000 Nordic respondents took part in the survey, including 1,000 respondents from Finland. The survey is conducted every two years by the research company YouGov.
