YouTube Music Adds Labels to AI-Generated Tracks

YouTube Music is the latest music streaming service to introduce new labels for AI-generated music. The new “AI” label will appear on tracks where the audio has been altered or fully generated with generative AI, and Google plans to expand this AI music label to its main YouTube app as well.

“We’re teaming up with music partners and using our own detection tools to identify AI-generated tracks, applying the same labeling principles already used across YouTube. Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for viewers and listeners to have the right information and clarity when it comes to the music they listen to,” the company said in the announcement.

It’s now easier than ever to create music with lyrics and professional-sounding vocals using tools such as Suno and Udio. Google also has its own generative AI platform for creating and remixing songs called Google Flow Music. The abundance of these tools is probably why we need a cross-industry effort to make AI-generated music easier to identify across all music streaming services.

Over the summer, Apple said it would soon join competitors Tidal and Deezer in labeling AI-generated music on its own platform. Spotify, however, only lets artists disclose in song credits that they used generative AI, which isn’t as obvious as a clear AI label. Deezer, the French music streaming service that recently released a platform-agnostic AI music detector, will soon go the extra mile and allow users to filter out AI music from their streaming experience.