1:43 PM PST · March 4, 2026
Apple Music is changing the way that record labels and distributors can flag AI-generated or AI-assisted content when they upload it to the platform.
According to Music Business Worldwide, Apple sent a newsletter to industry partners on Wednesday to explain how it will roll out a new set of metadata to promote transparency around how and when AI is used in music.
Metadata typically refers to fields like the song title, album title, genre, artist name, and other information that helps keep files organized. Now Apple Music will add the option to include metadata tags that distributors can use to flag when AI-generated content is involved in certain aspects of a song. These tags allow distributors to distinguish between a song’s artwork, track (music), composition (lyrics), or music video.
This seems like something that Apple Music users are interested in — a Reddit user posted a mock-up of a similar feature concept just days ago. But the problem with this sort of opt-in tagging is that it’s on the label or distributor to manually choose to flag their use of AI. Spotify is taking a similar path.
Other music-streaming platforms like Deezer are trying to flag content with in-house AI-detection tools, but it remains challenging to create these sorts of systems that are maximally accurate.
TechCrunch has reached out to Apple for more information.
