On Wednesday (March 4), Apple Music announced AI tagging as a new “delivery requirement” for record labels and music distributors. Now, when music is delivered to Apple Music, it must include disclosures of AI use, called “Transparency Tags,” in the following areas: artwork, track, composition and music video.
According to a newsletter sent to music industry partners about the new system, Apple Music advises that tags should be applied when a “material portion” of the content has used AI. “These new tagging requirements provide a concrete first step toward the transparency necessary for the industry to establish best practices and policies that work for everyone,” the announcement reads.
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Below are the four categories of AI tags, as specified by Apple Music:
- Artwork: “AI was used to generate a material portion of the artwork for an album. This applies to both static and motion graphic artwork.”
- Track: “AI was used to generate a material portion of a sound recording. This tag is available at the track level only.”
- Composition: “AI was used to generate a material portion of any music composition embodied in a track. Use this tag when AI generated a material portion of the lyrics, or other components of a composition.”
- Music Video: “AI was used to generate a material portion of the visual elements. This applies to music videos bundled with albums and standalone videos.”
This is the latest move by a streaming service to regulate AI-generated music on their sites. According to French streaming service Deezer, 60,000 fully AI-generated tracks are uploaded to its platform daily, and given that music is commonly distributed to all platforms, experts say it’s likely that the count is similar on other services.
Deezer is regulating the flood of AI content by implementing a proprietary AI detection tool that automatically tags all fully AI-generated songs and removes them from editorial and algorithmic recommendations. Spotify is curbing AI music’s effects by cracking down on the negative use cases for AI music, including deepfaking, artificial streaming and spam — though it does not make its regulations around these problems specific to AI music. Spotify also announced that it was developing a standard for AI disclosures in music credits through DDEX.
Qobuz, an independent music streaming and download platform, announced its own set of rules in February, including a new AI detection system that will identify and tag 100% AI-generated songs across new releases and existing catalog. It also noted that it would prioritize human artists in recommendations and ensure that all of its editorial selections would be led by people.
Other music listening platforms have gone even further. Bandcamp, for example, has placed an outright ban on fully AI and “substantial[ly]” AI-generated music. iHeartRadio also has a similar rule, which is part of its “Guaranteed Human” program, to cut AI songs from its airwaves nationwide.
