YouTube Music now labels AI-generated songs, using your distributor's tag or its own detection

YouTube Music now tells you when a song was made with AI.

On October 14, 2026, YouTube started rolling out labels for tracks “created primarily using generative AI”, for example a song where a generative model made both the composition and the vocals. The label sits right on the player page, and tapping it opens a menu that explains how the track was made. The same labels are coming to the main YouTube app too.

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As these tools evolve, our listeners have told us they want transparency when they're hearing an AI-generated track.

How YouTube Music decides which songs get an AI label

YouTube uses 2 sources. The first is you, or rather your distributor or label. When they deliver a track, they can tag it with one of 3 values, according to YouTube’s Help Center page for music partners: Fully Gen AI, Partly Gen AI or No Gen AI.

The second is YouTube itself. It runs its own detection tools, and the Help Center is blunt about what happens when no tag arrives: YouTube “will rely solely on those signals and may designate content as fully or partly Gen AI.”

So the safest move is to tag your own releases before YouTube guesses. The tags travel in DDEX ERN 4.3.2 or later, or in YouTube’s CSV templates, so it’s worth checking whether your distributor supports AI disclosure at all.

What counts as Partly Gen AI on YouTube Music

Fully Gen AI is the easy one. YouTube’s own example is someone typing a prompt into an AI music generator (think Suno or Udio) and downloading the track.

Partly Gen AI is where most working musicians land. YouTube lists an AI-made bassline or string section with your own vocals and instruments on top, AI help with lyrics or melodies before you record, and even a fully human song with an AI-generated music video.

And No Gen AI covers more than you’d think. Auto-Tune on a live vocal and automated AI mastering both count as no Gen AI. YouTube also adds that it’s “up to partners to interpret the Gen AI definitions provided by DDEX”, so the final call sits with whoever delivers your music.

How YouTube Music’s AI labels compare to Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer

YouTube’s label tells you how a song was made, and so far YouTube hasn’t said it does anything more. In May, when YouTube started auto-labeling AI music videos, it said a disclosure label alone doesn’t change how a video is recommended or whether it can earn money.

The others went further. Spotify’s AI Persona badge keeps AI artist profiles out of recommendations by default, TIDAL stopped paying royalties on fully AI-generated music, and Deezer is adding a toggle that hides it from search.

Apple Music is closest to YouTube. Its Made With AI labels also depend on labels and distributors declaring AI use, and they go live later this year.

YouTube’s split doesn’t match the 2 tags the RIAA and IFPI proposed in July either, AI-generated and AI-assisted. So for now, the same song can end up with a different AI tag on every service it’s on.