Music Industry Launches AI Labeling Program
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- RIAA, IFPI, the Grammys, and SAG-AFTRA launched a joint labeling initiative to mark music as 'AI-Generated' or 'AI-Assisted' at the track level, providing a standardized transparency tool for streaming platforms.
- IFPI CEO Vikki Oakley and RIAA CEO Mitch Glazier stated that fans value human artistry and want to know when AI is used, positioning the labels as scalable and adaptable as AI adoption evolves.
- Grammys CEO Harvey Mason Jr. emphasized that the initiative centers creativity and authorship, giving artists control over how their use of AI is communicated to audiences.
- SAG-AFTRA’s Duncan Crabtree-Ireland asserted that performers deserve a marketplace that protects human creativity, reiterating the union’s stance against AI replacing or imitating artists without consent.
- Suno responded by supporting transparency but argued that decisions on labeling should remain with artists and platforms, citing its use of watermarking and audio fingerprinting to support disclosure.
Why it matters: Streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music currently leave AI labeling to artists, while Tidal tags and bans royalties for AI tracks—this new framework could standardize practices across platforms, affecting how labels, artists, and services manage rights, royalties, and consumer trust as AI-generated music proliferates.
