Apple Music Will Start Adding Labels to AI-Generated Songs

Apple Music has made AI disclosure mandatory for record labels and music distributors, introducing a new system of "Transparency Tags" that must be applied whenever artificial intelligence has been used to generate a material portion of a release.

The requirement, announced on Wednesday, covers four areas: artwork, individual tracks, music composition,  including lyrics, and music videos. Labels and distributors are now expected to flag AI involvement in each of these categories at the point of delivery to the platform.

• Artwork: AI was used to generate a material portion of the album artwork, covering both static and motion graphics.

• Track: AI was used to generate a material portion of a sound recording, applied at the track level only.

• Composition: AI was used to generate a material portion of the music composition, including lyrics or other compositional elements.

• Music Video: AI was used to generate a material portion of the visual elements in a music video, whether bundled with an album or standalone.

According to Billboard, Apple Music described the tags as "a concrete first step toward the transparency necessary for the industry to establish best practices and policies that work for everyone." The tags apply when AI has contributed meaningfully to the content, not merely assisted in minor production tasks.

The move positions Apple Music among a growing number of streaming platforms taking active steps to address the surge of AI-generated content flooding the music industry. French streaming service Deezer has reported that approximately 60,000 fully AI-generated tracks are uploaded to its platform daily, a figure experts believe is likely mirrored across other major services, given how broadly music is distributed.

Each platform has taken a different approach to the problem. Deezer has deployed a proprietary AI detection tool that automatically tags fully AI-generated songs and removes them from editorial and algorithmic recommendations.

Spotify has focused on curbing specific abuses like deepfaking, artificial streaming, and spam and is separately developing an AI disclosure standard through music metadata body DDEX. Qobuz, on the other hand, announced in February that it would tag all fully AI-generated releases, prioritise human artists in recommendations, and ensure editorial selections remain human-led.

Some platforms have gone further still. Bandcamp has banned fully and substantially AI-generated music outright, while iHeartRadio's "Guaranteed Human" programme excludes AI-generated songs from its broadcasts entirely.

Apple Music's approach stops short of a ban, opting instead for disclosure, leaving listeners to decide what to do with the information. Whether that will prove sufficient in an industry still figuring out where the boundaries lie remains to be seen.

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