Apple Music will make AI-generated music easier to spot. In an email to creators on August 20, Apple said the AI Transparency Tags it introduced in March will become visible to listeners as “Made With AI” labels later this year. 9to5Mac obtained the email.
When a track gets the label
Content providers will be required to tag any release where AI was used to create “a material portion of the content,” including tracks that are AI-platform generated. Apple defines those as anything “primarily derived from a generative AI service.”
The tags cover four parts of a release: the sound recording, the composition and lyrics, the artwork, and the music video. Apple says the goal is to give listeners “as much transparency as possible,” and points creators to its Music Style Guide for details.
There is no exact launch date yet, and Apple has not said what happens if a provider skips the tag.
The tags were optional until now
When Apple announced Transparency Tags in March, disclosure was voluntary. Labels and distributors decided what qualified as AI-generated, similar to genres and credits. The new email makes tagging a requirement wherever AI played a material role in the content.
Over a third of new uploads are fully AI-made
The numbers explain the timing. Apple Music’s Oliver Schusser said on Billboard’s On the Record podcast that more than a third of the music uploaded to the service each month is fully AI-generated. Those tracks account for less than 0.5% of actual listening.
Streaming rivals are handling the flood differently. Spotify keeps music from AI Personas out of editorial and algorithmic recommendations by default, and its Verified badge flags authentic artists instead. Deezer excludes fully AI-generated tracks from recommendations and editorial playlists, and says fully AI music crossed 50% of its daily uploads for the first time in July.
Visible AI labels are spreading beyond music, too. WhatsApp is testing an AI-content label for Channel updates.
Apple’s labels arrive later this year. Listeners will then be able to spot the disclosure at a glance instead of relying on credits or outside tools.
