Apple Music has announced it will start labeling songs on the platform that were made using artificial intelligence. In a note sent to industry partners yesterday (20 Aug), the streaming service said that record labels and distributors will be required to tag songs in which “a material portion of the content” was created using AI, per Variety. The labels follow the March launch of AI Transparency Tags, which allow record labels and music distributors to disclose when content uploaded was “materially generated using AI.”
With the introduction of their labeling system, “content providers will be required to include AI Transparency Tags in any instance where AI was used to create a material portion of the content, including tracks that are AI platform generated,” Apple Music said in an email viewed by the Hollywood Reporter. They added that they defined AI content as “anything that is primarily derived from a generative service.”
Apple Music has yet to detail how it will enforce these requirements or when its labeling system will take effect, though it said it would be “later this year.” This is the latest in a series of policy shifts by streaming services over the proliferation of generative AI content in music streaming. Earlier this month, Spotify announced that they would start labeling AI artists and excluding them from editorial or algorithmic recommendations—though this system labels profiles attached to AI-created songs, rather than the songs themselves. TIDAL has also labeled AI music, banning AI tracks from accruing royalties, and Bandcamp has banned AI-created music entirely.
In July of this year, a joint statement from groups including the RIAA, Recording Academy (NARAS), IFPI, and SAG-AFTRA proposed a new labeling system to indicate whether songs had been produced with AI. “Given how important human artistry and authenticity is to music lovers all over the world,” they said, “these labels will provide an immediately understandable and easily scalable approach to transparency.”