AI Music: our stance, distribution policies, & FAQs

As believers in the power of human creation and champions of independent artists, the rise of AI in the music industry has been something we’ve kept a very close eye on.

Whether you love it or hate it, we don’t believe AI is going away anytime soon. And to ensure our artists, labels and partners are aware of how we approach distribution of AI content, we’re here to clarify our stance when it comes to distributing fully AI-generated, partly AI-generated, or AI-assisted music.

Please bear in mind that, while we will do our best to keep our AI Policy up-to-date, we are required to abide by DSPs’ own rules on eligible content and have no control over when or if those rules change. Our Policy is subject to change at any time.

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Our Core Belief: Artist-Led Creation Matters

You, the artists, are the driving force behind the music industry - and the advent of AI shouldn’t change that. The core principle that guides our stance on AI is that music should be yours. You, the human, should be the creative director of your art - with AI in no more than a supporting role, if or where you desire.

To accommodate the use of AI to elevate human-led music creations, we’re categorising content into five distinct types. Where your music falls in these categories will guide how we approach the distribution of your work.

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AI Music: what we will & will not distribute

🔴Fully AI-Generated Music - no distribution

Any tracks that are generated entirely by AI models and do not have any significant element of human composition will be classed as Fully AI-Generated and will be prohibited from distribution with Identity Music.

🔴AI-Generated Soundalikes - no distribution

Any tracks that contain AI-generated ‘soundalike’ content will be prohibited from distribution with Identity Music. This includes any track where AI or non-AI software has been used to mimic, replicate, or simulate the unique vocal timbre, style or likeness of an established artist without their express written consent.

🟠Partially AI-Generated Music - limited distribution

Creations that use AI-generated elements with an overall human-created composition will be eligible for limited distribution. A track falling into this category might, for example, use original beats or melodies alongside AI-generated vocals, within an overall human-created composition.Any tracks in this category can be distributed to streaming and download platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, etc. but cannot be distributed to Rights Management Platforms (further details below).

🟢AI-Assisted Music - full distribution

Releases where the music has been composed and performed by humans, but have used AI-powered software to mix and/or master the release, are classified as AI Mixed or Mastered and are eligible for full distribution, subject to the standard rules around sample use etc. No AI-specific restrictions apply to distribution.

🟢Fully Human-Generated Music - full distribution

Any tracks that have been created entirely through humans with standard digital or analogue tools and software will be classified as Fully Human Music and will be eligible for full distribution, subject to the standard rules around sample use etc. No AI-specific restrictions apply to distribution.

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Labelling AI-Generated Music

If you’ve used AI tools to generate music that falls into the Partially AI-Generated category (above), you will need to include this in your ‘Track Properties’ when uploading your tracks to the Identity Music dashboard.

Under ‘Track Properties’ in the upload process, you should select the ‘Includes AI’ option to mark that you’ve used AI in the creation of your track.

If you don’t select this track property and your track is detected as using AI elements, your release will be returned to you to update - causing delays in the distribution of your music.

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What happens if our scans detect AI in your track?

As part of our Quality Assurance processes, we scan every track for audio matches and AI detection. While not foolproof, the tools we use give us a good indication as to whether AI has been used in the creation of your music.

If our scans flag that AI elements have been detected in your content and you haven’t marked your track with the ‘Includes AI’ property, we will return the release to you and email you for clarification as to if and/or how AI has been used in the creation of your music.

If you have not used AI, we may ask you to provide a brief screen recording of your project file within your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) to confirm your creative process. Once satisfied, we will proceed with the distribution process.

If you have used AI, we will ask you for further information to ensure that your music is eligible for delivery to streaming platforms. We will need to know:

• Which AI platform or tool you used, e.g. Udio, Suno, Kits.ai, ElevenLabs, etc.
• Whether you used a free or paid/pro account on that platform.

Once you’ve provided this information, we will assess whether your music meets the criteria for distribution to Non-Rights Management Platforms (streaming and download platforms). In some cases, depending on the specific AI platform’s Terms of Use, even Partially AI-Generated Music may not be eligible for distribution if the tool does not grant commercial distribution rights to users.

If we are satisfied that your track’s use of AI is aligned with the regulations of DSPs and you own the relevant rights to the content, we can proceed with distribution to streaming platforms only. Partially AI-Generated content is not eligible for distribution to Rights Management Platforms.

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Distribution to Rights Management Platforms

Any tracks that fall into the category of Partially AI-Generated may not meet the requirements for distribution to all Rights Management Platforms. While these restrictions won’t affect every track falling into this category, without full originality, AI-generated elements can trigger false ownership claims against other creators using similar AI models.

No tracks containing AI-generated elements will be distributed to YouTube Content ID, regardless of audio matches found.

Distribution of Partially AI-Generated content to Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and TikTok will depend on whether or not audio matches are found in our pre-distribution review.

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AI Music FAQs

Why does Identity Music not distribute Fully AI-Generated Music?

We’re committed to championing independent artists and labels who value creativity. While AI does not necessarily undermine that creativity, and in many ways can support it, we do believe that relying entirely on AI and creating finished music from a couple of simple prompts does not align with our belief in supporting creativity. 

Since AI models have not always licensed music in a way that respects and remunerates original artists, we cannot be confident that Fully AI-Generated Music has been created by a model that fairly compensates the original artists used in training an AI model.

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How does Identity Music detect AI usage in tracks?

As part of our pre-distribution review process, we use a number of different methods to help us detect the usage of AI in your content.

Alongside reviewing releases to ensure they meet platform metadata requirements, every track is also run through sophisticated forensic AI detection tools. These are industry-recognised tools that identify micro-patterns in the sound waves that are not detectable by the human ear. These tools help to give us an understanding of the likelihood of any part of a track being AI-generated.

Under the EU AI Act (2026), major AI models are now required to embed machine-readable watermarks into content they generate. These watermarks are identified by AI detection tools and are an indication that AI has been used in a track.

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Why can Partially AI-Generated Music not be delivered to YouTube Content ID?

YouTube Content ID uses sophisticated technology to identify overlapping audio across tracks for copyright enforcement purposes.

Due to the way generative AI works, tracks containing AI-generated elements are often not distinct enough to satisfy Rights Management Platforms. Without full originality, AI-generated elements can trigger false ownership claims against other creators using similar AI models. 

Content that does not have full exclusive rights or ownership, including music containing samples, does not meet the requirements enforced by YouTube Content ID and therefore cannot be distributed to that platform.

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Where can my track be distributed if I used AI to write lyrics, but I performed the vocals?

Using AI tools to assist in the creation or production of your music would mean that track falls into the category of AI-Assisted Music. Tracks in that category are eligible for full distribution, subject to the usual restrictions over non-exclusive sample use.

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I use AI stem-splitters to make remixes: is that okay to distribute?

Using AI stem-splitters means a track would fall under the category of AI-Assisted Music and would therefore be eligible for full distribution.

However, remixes and tracks that use non-exclusive samples are generally not eligible for distribution to Rights Management Platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube Content ID, due to the copyright restrictions non-exclusive content faces.

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What happens if my track is flagged as AI-generated but I didn’t use AI to make it?

While we do our best to be as accurate as possible in our detection of AI-generated content, false positives can happen. If you are confident that your music is not AI-generated (either fully or partially), we may ask you to provide us with an insight into your creative process to confirm that AI has not been used.

If your music is flagged by our system, we will contact you to ask for confirmation as to whether any part of your track is AI-generated. If it isn’t, we ask you to provide us with a brief screen recording of your project file in your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), showing the overall structure of your track and its key elements. Once we have this, we will be able to proceed with distribution as usual (subject to the normal distribution requirements).

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If I use AI software to edit a track that I created, do I need to state ‘Includes AI’ in Track Properties?

At this time, you only need to mark your track as ‘Includes AI’ if there are AI-generated elements within the track itself, not if you used AI tools or software in the production or editing of your track. The ‘Includes AI’ Track Property is reserved for tracks that use elements, e.g. vocals, beats, or melodies, that are produced by inputting prompts or instructions into generative AI models.

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Will my track be labelled as AI on streaming platforms?

As a distributor, we don’t have control over which Track Properties a streaming platform chooses to display to their users. At the time of writing, some platforms, such as Deezer, do inform listeners if a track uses AI elements, while others do not. If your track uses AI elements and is therefore marked as ‘Includes AI’, it is possible that it will be labelled as AI on the public-facing end of streaming platforms.

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