The Wall Street Journal broke the news on Friday (July 10) that a coalition of music industry organizations is proposing a system to label AI-generated music on streaming services.
More detail emerged in official press releases issued on behalf of the eight organizations behind the program: IFPI, the RIAA, A2IM, WIN, IMPALA, the Recording Academy, SAG-AFTRA, and the Human Artistry Campaign.
AI music company Suno, which raised over $400 million in funding in June, has issued a response to the initiative, saying that “transparency is important”.
Universal Music Group and Sony Music are in active litigation with Suno, in a copyright infringement lawsuit coordinated by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), one of the organizations behind the labeling program.
The labels accuse Suno of training its models using their music without permission. Warner Music Group, a former co-plaintiff, exited the case after settling with Suno in November 2025 and entering a licensing partnership.
“This is a nuanced conversation that will require thoughtful solutions, which is why we’re continuing to work with creatives, rightsholders, and platforms on approaches that protect artists while supporting human creativity,” Suno said in a statement on Friday.
“We believe transparency is important. We’re investing in watermarking, audio fingerprinting and other tools that empower artists to disclose if they used AI in a song.”
“We believe that ultimately it should be up to artists and platforms to decide how to treat these complex issues.”
The labeling initiative comes amid calls for greater transparency about AI-generated content on streaming platforms.
Under the guidelines proposed by the RIAA-led group of music orgs, a recording is labeled AI-Generated when generative AI produced the entirety or the primary portion of its creative elements, such as an AI-generated lead vocal, an AI-generated key instrumental or entirely prompt-generated music.
The voluntary labels would distinguish recordings that are AI-Generated from those that are AI-Assisted, and are intended for adoption across digital music services and other partners worldwide.
The AI-Assisted label applies to recordings created substantially by humans that express human creativity but use generative AI for some expressive elements, with humans performing the lead vocal and primary instruments.
The labels apply to sound recordings only, and do not cover the use of generative AI in lyrics, composition, music videos or cover art at this point.
In April, Deezer reported that AI-generated tracks made up 44% of all new music delivered to its platform, equivalent to around 75,000 tracks a day.
The streaming service Apple Music has said that more than one-third of the tracks uploaded to its platform are “100% AI.”
“FANS WANT TO KNOW WHETHER AND HOW GENERATIVE AI HAS BEEN USED IN THE MUSIC TO WHICH THEY LISTEN.”
Victoria Oakley (IFPI) and Mitch Glazier (RIAA)
“Given how important human artistry and authenticity is to music lovers all over the world, these labels will provide an immediately understandable and easily scalable approach to transparency,” said Victoria Oakley, CEO of IFPI, and Mitch Glazier, Chairman and CEO of the RIAA, in a joint statement.
“We acknowledge the many ways AI is being used creatively, so we expect to offer fans additional information as adoption of generative AI labeling grows and technology evolves.”
This initiative ensures that creativity, authorship, and artistic intent remain at the center of every song.”
Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy
Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said: “As AI continues to be integrated into the creative process, artists and fans alike deserve a clear way to communicate how and when it’s being used. This initiative ensures that creativity, authorship, and artistic intent remain at the center of every song.”
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator added: “Transparency is essential, but it is only the beginning. Fans deserve to know when the music they hear is AI-generated or AI-assisted, and performers deserve a marketplace that recognizes, values, and protects human creativity.”
“SAG-AFTRA continues to reinforce the principle that AI should not be used to replace, imitate, or exploit artists without consent and fair compensation,” he added.
Ian Harrison, CEO of A2IM, said: “As questions of integrity, authenticity, and provenance grow, that trust depends on people knowing what’s real. That’s why A2IM supports the whole industry coming together behind a clear, shared standard for labeling AI.”
Noemí Planas, CEO of WIN, added: “Clear labeling of AI-generated content is central to this: it gives fans the transparency they deserve and supports the human-centered, safety-first approach that the global independent community has championed through the WIN Principles for Generative AI.”
“We welcome this as an important initial step towards a provenance system that the whole industry can embrace with pride as a quality mark,” said Helen Smith, Executive Chair of IMPALA, the European independents association.
The labels use visual icons, supported by metadata and delivery systems, to show fans whether and how AI was used in a recording.
The organizations said they will work with digital music services, distributors, aggregators and standard-setting bodies on industry-wide implementation, and that the approach supports compliance with evolving requirements across jurisdictions.
“We are following today’s announcement closely and look forward to receiving more detailed and accurate AI metadata, which will strengthen our ability to give fans the transparency they deserve.”
Graham Davies, DiMA
The Digital Media Association (DiMA), which represents streaming services including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube, also responded to the announcement. It did not say if its members would adopt the two proposed tags.
“DiMA has long advocated for the creators, owners, and distributors of music to provide accurate and timely metadata on all music released and distributed to streaming services,” said Graham Davies, President and CEO of DiMA.
“We are following today’s announcement closely and look forward to receiving more detailed and accurate AI metadata, which will strengthen our ability to give fans the transparency they deserve.”
“That information flows best when it travels the entire path from creator to fan, and our members rely on industry partners to make that possible. Our members look forward to continuing to work with the labels, producers, artists and distributors, as well as other industry stakeholders and standards bodies such as DDEX, to build a robust supply chain in which consumers can trust.”
The news comes one month after a widely-read op/ed from MBW founder Tim Ingham on the topic, titled ‘Label The Slop‘.
In it, he argues that Spotify and Apple already run a prominent, standardized ‘Explicit Content’ marker right on the track itself and that “there’s no reason ‘AI Content’ couldn’t be similarly obvious.”
Spotify announced in September that it would support the new DDEX industry standard for AI disclosures in music credits. The company also began testing AI tags in its song credits in April, but only where an artist has chosen to disclose AI use through their label or distributor.
The company said in September 2025 that it had removed more than 75 million “spammy” tracks over the prior year, as it brought in rules against impersonation and AI-enabled fraud.
Spotify also introduced a new verification badge for artist profiles on its platform in April and said that “at launch, profiles that appear to primarily represent AI-generated or AI-persona artists are not eligible for verification”.
France’s Deezer, meanwhile, says it was the first streaming service to detect and tag AI music at the platform level, back in 2025.
Deezer said in April that it was taking in close to 75,000 fully AI-generated tracks a day, more than 44% of everything newly delivered to it.
Deezer has also said that up to 85% of streams on fully AI-generated music were fraudulent in 2025, and that it strips those streams out of royalty payments.
TIDAL set out a policy in June to tag tracks it identifies as fully AI-generated and stop them earning royalties.
High-fidelity rival Qobuz announced its own detection system in February, saying it would tag AI-generated tracks and remove those found to be impersonating artists or manipulating streaming activity.
Apple Music, meanwhile, launched a tagging system in March that relies on labels and distributors to declare AI-generated content, rather than detecting it at the platform level.Music Business Worldwide
Suno‘s only licensing deal with a major music company so far is its November settlement with Warner Music Group, which resolved WMG’s copyright lawsuit and included its acquisition of Songkick.
The company is also exploring a developer API, which its Chief Product Officer, Jack Brody, has described as a precursor to a “partner powered model.”Music Business Worldwide