Labels Must Disclose AI-Generated Songs on Apple Music

In a recent interview with Billboard On The Record, Apple Music VP Oliver Schusser made it clear that while technology is evolving, the burden of legal disclosure lies squarely with the record labels and content providers.

Schusser noted that Apple’s strategy revolves around a new system called “Transparency Tags.” Rather than deploying an automated AI police bot to scan every upload, Apple is implementing a metadata-driven approach. Labels and distributors are now required to disclose if AI was used in four key areas i.e. the sound recording (track), the lyrics or melody (composition), the visual artwork, and the music video.

The executive emphasized that these tags are a concrete first step toward establishing industry-wide best practices. By making AI disclosure a standard part of the delivery process, Apple hopes to create a searchable, honest database of how technology is being used in the studio.

During the interview, the message to the industry was blunt i.e. Apple needs content providers to take responsibility for what they are feeding into the ecosystem. Schusser noted that labels are the ones with direct relationships with artists and producers, making them the best-equipped to know exactly how a song was made.

“I really need the content providers and the labels to take responsibility,” Schusser stated. This shift places the onus on the industry to maintain its own integrity. If a label fails to tag a track that is clearly synthetic, it risks damaging the trust between the platform, the artist, and the listeners.

Despite the focus on technical tags, the heart of the conversation remained on the human side of music. Schusser reiterated that Apple Music’s priority is to promote a healthy creative ecosystem where songwriters and performers are not “afterthoughts.”