Photo Credit: Daniel Cañibano
Apple Music is introducing new metadata requirements aimed at providing better transparency around AI-generated content on the platform.
Apple Music has launched “Transparency Tags,” a new system of metadata requirements aimed at disclosing content on the platform. According to details confirmed to Digital Music News, record labels and music distributors can now apply these labels to content delivered to Apple Music immediately, and will be required to use them when delivering new content going forward.
The new framework covers four general guidelines:
Mandatory AI Disclosures—Effective immediately, Apple Music says record labels and distributors must use “Transparency Tags” to disclose if AI was used during the creation of content delivered to the platform, with substantial portions absolutely needing to be tagged. While penalties were not discussed, implicit in these requirements are Apple’s ability to remove or reject works without proper AI disclosures.
Broad Coverage—Per the guidelines, these tags must be applied across four specific categories—artwork, sound recordings (the tracks themselves), lyrics/compositions, and music videos—whenever AI is used for a “material portion” of the work.
Industry Standards—Apple says this is needed for industry-wide transparency and the establishment of best practices for dealing with the surge of AI-generated content.
Self-Reporting (subject to change)—Apple’s current strategy relies on self-reporting by the rights holders at the delivery stage, unlike Deezer and Qobuz’s automatic detection tools.
The move is well-timed, given other music streaming platforms’ recent AI policies. These include Spotify, which said in September it would remove tracks that impersonate another artist’s voice without their consent, and implement a new filter to remove spam and disclose AI usage.
Deezer and Qobuz have also announced tools to automatically detect and flag tracks made using generative AI. Finally, Bandcamp said it would not allow any generative AI tracks to be uploaded to its platform.
AI-generated music has become a major concern for the industry in recent months. In January, Deezer said over 60,000 AI-generated tracks are uploaded to its platform daily—six times as many as a year prior, when it implemented its AI detection tool. Further, Deezer said AI-generated content now accounts for 39% of Deezer uploads; the platform tagged 13.4 million tracks as AI-generated between January 2025 and January 2026.
