Apple Music introduces AI transparency tags

Apple Music is introducing new metadata tags that allow record labels and distributors to disclose when artificial intelligence was used in the creation of music, artwork, or other elements of a release.

The company has informed partners that when uploading new content to the platform they must use special AI transparency tags if a material portion of the work was created with the help of AI. Multiple tags can be applied to the same release depending on how the technology was involved in the production process.

Metadata usually includes fields such as the song title, album title, genre, artist name, and other information used to organize music files. With the update, Apple Music will allow distributors to indicate whether AI was used in different parts of a project, including cover artwork, lyrics, musical elements, or video content.

According to Apple, the new tags are intended as a first step toward greater transparency around AI-generated content as the music industry adapts to the creative possibilities offered by generative technologies.

At the same time, the company leaves it up to labels and distributors to decide what qualifies as AI-generated content. They will manually apply the tags when uploading releases, while Apple has not yet explained how the accuracy of such disclosures will be verified.