YouTube Music announced Wednesday the rollout of a new tagging system aimed at improving transparency around songs created using generative AI. Now listeners will be able to easily identify tracks created using AI, including those involved in composition and singing.
The tag will appear on the player’s page. Clicking on this label provides additional information about the specific role of AI in the creation of the song.
Notably, these labels will also extend to the main YouTube app.
YouTube said it has collaborated with various music partners and deployed its own detection tools to identify AI-generated music. According to its help page, partners using YouTube can declare the use of generative AI in their work via one of three designations: Fully Gen AI, Partly Gen AI, or No Gen AI.
“Fully Gen AI” applies to pieces that are entirely generated by AI, while “Partly Gen AI” refers to works in which artists may have incorporated AI-generated components but added their own elements live. Tracks edited using pitch correction tools such as Auto-Tune fall into the “No Gen AI” category.
The move comes as AI-generated music is rapidly growing on streaming services and many platforms are adopting their own approaches. For example, Apple Music plans to introduce “Made With AI” labels as part of its AI transparency tags later this year. Spotify also has AI tags, as well as a music spam filter.
Deezer has taken one of the strictest stances, reporting in July that it was receiving nearly 90,000 entirely AI-generated tracks daily. The platform’s labels have detected AI-generated music and exclude it from algorithmic recommendations and editorial playlists, while also withholding royalties from fraudulent streams. The company is also working on an option to allow users to filter AI-generated music.
TIDAL also qualifies recordings it identifies as entirely AI-generated, allows listeners to opt-out of them, and excludes these recordings from royalty allocation.
YouTube, on the other hand, focuses on disclosure rather than general restrictions. Its new labels aim to educate listeners about the role of AI in music creation, but AI involvement alone does not make a track ineligible for monetization. YouTube is even experimenting with AI-powered music creation, notably with its Dream Track tool, which allows some creators to generate soundtracks featuring AI-generated versions of participating artists’ voices.
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