YouTube Music announced Wednesday a new labeling system designed to increase transparency about songs created with generative AI. The labels will appear on both the YouTube Music player page and the main YouTube app, allowing listeners to identify tracks that involve AI in composition or vocals.

When a user clicks the label, additional details about the AI's specific role in the track's creation are displayed. Partners uploading music to YouTube can designate their work as Fully Gen AI, Partly Gen AI, or No Gen AI. Fully Gen AI refers to tracks entirely generated by AI, while Partly Gen AI covers works that incorporate AI-generated elements alongside human-created components such as live instrumentation or vocals. Tracks modified using tools like pitch correction are classified as No Gen AI.

The initiative follows growing concerns about AI-generated music flooding streaming platforms. Deezer reported in July that it was receiving nearly 90,000 fully AI-generated tracks daily, prompting the company to label such content, exclude it from algorithmic recommendations and editorial playlists, and withhold royalties from fraudulent streams. TIDAL has also implemented labeling for AI-identified recordings and allows users to filter them out, while also excluding them from royalty attribution.

YouTube's approach emphasizes disclosure rather than restriction. The company states that AI involvement alone does not disqualify a track from monetization, and it continues to experiment with AI-powered music tools such as Dream Track, which enables select creators to generate soundtracks using AI versions of participating artists' voices. The move aligns with similar transparency efforts underway at Apple Music, which plans to introduce "Made With AI" labels as part of its AI Transparency Tags later this year, and Spotify, which has introduced AI labels and a music spam filter.

Lauren covers media, streaming, apps and platforms at TechCrunch. She can be reached at [email protected] or via encrypted message at laurenforris22.25 on Signal.