Is AI music allowed? 15 distributors and 9 DSP rules, mapped.
The rules are confusing ...
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The rules for AI generated music are … confusing
Last month Tunecore announced it was banning AI generated music from its distribution platform. If you’re making 100% AI-generated music on “pirate studios” like Suno, you can no longer upload it to Spotify using Tunecore.
This sent me down a rabbit hole. What are the rules at other distributors? And how do the DSPs like Spotify and Apple Music handle AI music when it arrives?
The answer is confusing. There are no consistent clear rules at all.
Sometimes AI music is banned. Sometimes it’s freely allowed.
Sometimes you’re allowed a little bit of AI for vocals or drums … but not 100%.
Sometimes it’s demonetized or blocked from playlists. Sometimes it appears in your recommendations.
Sometimes it’s tagged publicly. Sometimes just internally.
Sometimes you have to disclose AI use. Sometimes not.
There’s no unified framework
Almost every distributor, DSP and music platform has a different rule book, and rules are changing all the time. So today we’re mapping out the current landscape of AI rules from two angles.
Part 1: The Distributors. Which distributors allow you to upload AI generated music, and what rules do they follow?
Part 2: The DSPs - Which music platforms accept AI generated music, and how do they handle it?
And it’s tricky because no-one really knows whose responsibility it is to enforce the rules.
Part 1. Distributors
Strict 🔴
CDBaby - The strictest of all distributors. Complete ban on generative AI, even for creative or partial use. AI is only allowed for limited production use like mixing and mastering.
Tunecore - Tunecore will not accept 100% AI generated music. However, AI used in the creative process is allowed, so long as human creation is “clear, provable and dominant.”
Identity Music - Bans fully AI generated music, and limits distribution for partially generated tracks.
AWAL - Bans fully AI generated music and employs human review for partially-generated AI.
Allowed with disclosure 🟠
Distrokid - Distrokid allows fully and partially generated AI tracks but now requires a disclosure.
Too Lost - AI music is allowed but requires a disclosure and proof of commercial rights.
Symphonic - Allowed but requires a disclosure.
Soundcloud for Artists - Allowed but AI releases are flagged and require additional licensing docs.
OneRPM - AI is permitted but artists must disclose how AI was used in the creative process.
Roc Nation Distribution - Allowed with disclosure.
Allowed with limited distribution 🟠
Amuse - AI generated music is allowed but Amuse restricts distribution to certain platforms such as Qobuz, Meta and YouTube Content ID due to risks over copyright, metadata complication and impersonation / takedown risk.
United Masters - Allowed but limited distribution to Meta and TikTok.
Routenote - Allowed but limited distribution to YouTube Content ID.
Fully permitted 🟢
Ditto - Ditto’s policy is to pass through DSP rules to the artist. You can upload any AI music, but warns that DSPs may reject or demonetize now or in the future.
ONCE - AI generated tracks are fully allowed as long as you have commercial rights. An extra charge is employed and the money goes to an “artist compensation fund.”
Note: our research largely focuses on the self-serve distributors that handle the long-tail of most artist uploads. Major label distribution and large independent distribution partners do not have public policies and rely on human review.
Part 2: DSPs and music platforms
Strict 🔴
Bandcamp - Bandcamp is the only platform with a strict ban on AI generated music. It will not allow “music that is generated wholly or substantially by AI.”
Allowed but demonetized 🟠
YouTube - AI generated music is allowed but YouTube will demonetize if it does not contain sufficient human creation, or if it violates copyright.
Deezer - Fully AI generated music is publicly tagged, demonetized and removed from editorial and algorithmic playlists. Partially generated tracks are fine, and treated like normal music.
Qobuz - AI generated music is allowed but will be demonetized and removed from editorial and recommended playlists.
Allowed but supressed 🟠
Apple Music - In March, Apple Music introduced AI tagging, asking distributors and labels to indicate whether their uploads used AI generation. These tags are optional right now but will be mandatory in the future. Apple is using these tags to actively suppress AI-generated music out of editorial and algorithmic playlists. For this reason, we’re putting Apple Music slightly higher than Spotify in strictness.
Allowed but with some limits 🟢
Spotify - Spotify introduced voluntary tagging via DDEX, and these will show up publicly in song credits if the artist or labels tags them during distribution. Spotify does not currently restrict AI music from its recommendation engine or playlists, but it does remove “spam” tracks.
Soundcloud - Soundcloud has internal AI detection tags which it uses to filter out spam or bot-farms.
Tidal - AI generated tracks are allowed but the artist takes liability for any copyright issues in the future.
Audiomack - Audiomack does not appear to have a public policy on AI generated music. Some distributors claim that Audiomack may reject AI tracks, but there are definitely AI-generated tracks on the platform. We can’t verify publicly whether these are demonetized or suppressed.
AI rules continue to confuse …
As you can see, there’s no unified framework to follow yet. And it’s still not clear whether responsibility for detecting, policing and attributing AI music lies with the distributor, the DSP or someone else.
There’s a general trend towards increased transparency via tagging and disclosures. And there’s an increasing appetite to suppress and limit fully-generated AI music from discovery and playlists, but those rules are not universally applied yet. Decisions are still made on a platform-by-platform basis.
This confusion is a common theme. A few weeks back we mapped the AI music licensing landscape where the deals are equally chaotic with no uniform framework emerging yet. The music industry is collectively figuring this out in real time, and there are lots of open questions remaining.
All this research is done manually and the rules are changing rapidly, so if we got something wrong in this article please let us know and we’ll try to keep it up to date.
Thanks for reading
If you found this useful, please do forward it to your colleagues or share with your friends. If you have questions or thoughts, reach out to me on LinkedIn or by email at benjamin@stvdio.io. See you next week with another music industry report.
tl;dr: For artists, stick with red!! ;)