Tidal Requires AI Music Labels, Blocks Royalty Payments

Music streaming service Tidal announced Monday it will require artists to label music created wholly or substantially with artificial intelligence—and those tracks will not qualify for royalty payments under a new policy taking effect July 15.

The policy represents a more restrictive approach than competitors Spotify and Apple Music have adopted. While those platforms ask artists and distributors to voluntarily disclose AI-generated content, Tidal is making labeling mandatory and cutting off a key revenue stream for such work.

New Standards for AI Content

Under the policy, which applies to both Tidal's main service and its independent artist platform Tidal Upload, the company will also ban AI-generated music tied to fraudulent activity. That category includes tracks impersonating established artists and attempts to deceive listeners about a song's origins.

Tidal said it will initially require labels for wholly AI-generated music, then expand to substantially AI-created tracks as detection technology improves. Robert Andersen, a principal designer at Tidal developer Block, wrote on X that the platform receives "an overwhelming amount of AI-generated music from 3rd party distributors," making the policy shift necessary.

Why it matters

Tidal's decision to withhold royalties from AI-generated music creates the first major economic disincentive for uploading such content to a mainstream streaming platform. While the service has a smaller user base than Spotify, it has historically paid higher per-stream rates to artists. The move signals that streaming platforms may increasingly differentiate between human-created and AI-generated work—not just in labeling, but in compensation models that could reshape how AI tools are deployed in music production.

Diverging Industry Approaches

The policy contrasts sharply with Spotify's stance. Spotify's AI guidelines state that the platform pays royalties "based on listener engagement, and all music is treated equally, regardless of the tools used to make it." Apple Music told partners in March that AI-generated music accounts for less than 1% of weekly plays and that the company uses internal detection tools, according to Billboard.

Tidal acknowledged ongoing debates about licensing for copyrighted material used in AI training, noting that "this debate will continue as the technology advances and rightholders and AI music platforms develop licensing models." The company stated its priority is "ensuring royalties go to original works directly produced, written, and performed by people."

The streaming service said artists should have freedom to create with AI tools and listeners should have autonomy to choose what they consume, but added that "due to the problems associated with the influx of AI-generated content, we will hold AI-generated content to a higher standard of content integrity."

These details were first reported by Variety.