The global recorded music industry is pushing streaming platforms to establish a labeling system for AI-generated music

Global Record Industry Pushes Streaming Platforms to Establish AI Music Labeling System

On July 10, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), together with industry bodies including the Recording Academy, SAG-AFTRA, the Human Artistry Campaign, and the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), jointly promoted streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music to establish a unified AI music labeling system to enhance the transparency of AI-generated music.

According to the scheme disclosed by *The Wall Street Journal*, the industry proposes setting two types of labels: "AI-generated" and "AI-assisted".

Among them, "AI-generated" applies to works that are entirely created by AI based on text prompts, or whose main vocals and main instrumental performances are produced by AI; "AI-assisted" is used for works that are primarily human-created, with AI tools only used in partial creative stages. The labels will be similar to the current "Explicit" identifier used on streaming platforms, displayed directly on the song page for users to easily recognize.

Mitch Glazier, Chairman and CEO of the RIAA, stated that more and more listeners are receptive to AI music, but they want to know whether human creators are involved in the works. At the same time, the industry also supports artists to use AI for creation reasonably, so establishing a transparent labeling mechanism helps balance technological innovation and consumers' right to know.

At present, this scheme has not been officially adopted by streaming platforms.

The Digital Media Association (DiMA), which represents digital music services such as Spotify and Apple Music, said it hopes that AI-related information can circulate along with works throughout the entire industry chain, but it has not confirmed whether its member platforms will adopt the two aforementioned labels.

In fact, multiple streaming platforms have begun to explore AI content identification mechanisms.

Spotify has supported the AI information disclosure standards formulated by DDEX, and is testing AI labels that are actively declared by record labels or distributors.

Deezer launched its AI music identification and labeling system in 2025, and disclosed in April this year that the platform receives about 75,000 AI-generated songs per day, accounting for more than 44% of all newly uploaded content.

TIDAL announced that it will add identifiers to music entirely generated by AI and stop paying royalties for such works; Qobuz and Apple Music have also launched AI content detection or declaration mechanisms respectively.

Suno Recruits Veteran Executives from YouTube and Atlantic

On July 7, AI music generation platform Suno announced the appointment of two veteran executives from the traditional music industry and digital platforms: Christian Bowne, former executive of YouTube's music business, will serve as Head of Music Business Development, and Grace James, former Executive Vice President of Creative Marketing at Atlantic Records, will take the position of Vice President of Artist Marketing & Editorial, to further strengthen the company's layout in copyright cooperation, industry partnerships and artist development.

Suno stated that Bowne's arrival coincides with the company's preparation to launch its first AI music model developed in collaboration with the music industry. In the future, he will be responsible for the company's licensing cooperation strategy and industry partnerships, promoting collaborations with record labels and copyright holders. At present, the only publicly announced major music company licensing cooperation for Suno is the agreement reached with Warner Music Group in November 2025.

Bowne previously worked at YouTube for 16 years, participating in promoting the licensing and launch of the platform's music products, including establishing a music monetization model for user-generated content (UGC), and being involved in YouTube Music subscription services, YouTube Shorts, and Dream Track, an AI music experimental project based on Google's Lyria model. After joining Suno, he will join the business team led by Jeremy Sirota, former CEO of Merlin, to advance the company's copyright licensing and commercial cooperation.

Grace James, the other new executive, has nearly 20 years of experience in music marketing. She previously served as Executive Vice President of Creative Marketing at Atlantic Records, where she was in charge of marketing projects for artists including Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, FKA twigs, Alex Warren and Lizzo, including Lizzo's Grammy-winning albums *Cuz I Love You* and *Special*. Earlier, she worked as Marketing Director at Roc Nation, and was responsible for marketing operations at TIDAL, participating in the promotion of projects such as Rihanna's *ANTI*, Kanye West's *The Life of Pablo* and Beyoncé's *Lemonade*.

In her new role at Suno, James will oversee platform artist marketing and content planning, and support the company's Spark independent artist incubation program launched in June 2026, which provides independent musicians with support in creation, promotion and career development.

This article is from the WeChat Official Account "Music Business" (ID: musicbusiness), author: Yaxuan Song, editor: Yiran An, published by 36Kr with authorization.