The company said its goal is to ensure that royalty payments are reserved for music created directly by people. “TIDAL’s priority is ensuring royalties go to original works directly produced, written, and performed by people. We will therefore not knowingly attribute royalties to music we identify as wholly AI-generated.”
Listeners will begin seeing an “AI” badge next to music that TIDAL identifies as fully AI-generated. The company said it plans to expand the labeling system to cover music it considers substantially AI-generated as its detection capabilities improve.
TIDAL also said it will remove AI-generated content that exploits an artist’s identity or misleads listeners.
The company stated that it will not allow AI-generated music that “exploits an individual’s or group’s music, name or likeness, deceives listeners, or diminishes the quality of our service.”
In addition to detecting AI-generated music on its own platform, TIDAL said distributors will be expected to identify AI-generated content before submitting it. “We expect – and will begin to enforce – that content distributors identify AI-generated content before it reaches our platform,” TIDAL said in its AI policy.
The same rules will apply to TIDAL Upload, the company’s direct distribution tool for independent artists. Uploads the company identifies as wholly AI-generated will not be eligible for direct-to-fan monetization.
Tony Gervino, TIDAL’s Executive Vice President and Editor-in-Chief, said the company is responding to a growing volume of AI-generated music designed to imitate existing artists. “TIDAL is not here to bash technological advancement,” Gervino wrote. He added that “our inboxes (and your world, we’re assuming) are inundated with music that is created completely AI-generated and impersonating existing artists purely for financial gain.”
“We are committed to protecting and rewarding organic creativity to avoid compromising an artist’s ability to connect with and build their fandom from TIDAL subscribers,” Gervino added.
TIDAL acknowledged that questions remain about whether some AI-generated music, including tracks created using what it described as “fairly and properly licensed” AI models, could eventually qualify for royalties as licensing practices evolve.
The company’s policy follows similar efforts across the music streaming industry. Deezer has introduced platform-level detection and labeling for AI-generated music, while Qobuz has announced a comparable system that tags AI-generated tracks and removes songs found to impersonate artists or manipulate streaming activity.
Apple Music relies on labels and distributors to disclose AI-generated content, and Spotify has been testing AI labels in song credits when artists voluntarily report AI use through their labels or distributors. Spotify has also removed millions of tracks it identified as spam and introduced verification rules that exclude profiles primarily representing AI-generated artists from receiving verification badges.
This analysis is based on reporting from Music Business Worldwide.
Image courtesy of Tidal.
This article was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy and quality.
