Read the "Fully AI" column as what happens to a track with no meaningful human composition or performance. "Hybrid" means a human wrote, played or sang substantial parts and used AI for the rest. Dates in the last column are the month of the source I checked, not the month the rule began.
Two cells in that table are deliberately soft. Amazon Music and SoundCloud publish no AI-music rule that I could find, so "no policy found" is not "no rule". And TIDAL's own pages disagree internally, which I cover below.
Spotify
Spotify's September 2025 announcement set three pillars: an impersonation policy ("vocal impersonation is only allowed in music on Spotify when the impersonated artist has authorized the usage"), a music spam filter, and AI disclosures through DDEX.[2] The page's update says a beta showing AI credits in Song Credits on mobile launched on 16 April, and that a missing credit does not prove no AI was used. Spotify says the policy is not about punishing artists who use AI responsibly or down-ranking disclosed tracks. Credit fields and the persona badge are covered in our persona badge deep-dive and the DDEX metadata checklist.
Apple Music
Apple announced optional AI Transparency Tags on 4 March 2026 for labels and distributors, across artwork, track, composition and music video.[3] A later Mixmag report quotes Apple telling partners that "as we implement Made With AI labels, content providers will be important partners," with no date given.[4] Whether tags are mandatory yet is unsettled in the coverage I found, so tag anyway if your distributor offers the field.
YouTube and YouTube Music
YouTube's help page requires disclosure of realistic AI content, and names "creates music that is the main focus of a video" among the triggers. You answer an "AI use" question in YouTube Studio. YouTube states disclosure alone does not limit a video's audience or affect monetisation eligibility, and it may label content automatically if it carries C2PA metadata or its systems detect AI.[5] Separately, the Partner Program page describes mass-produced, generic or repetitive content, including AI content from "generic or unoriginal templates", as not monetisable.[6] The risk is not the label. It is a channel of 200 near-identical AI tracks over still images.
Deezer
Deezer is the most transparent about numbers. Its July 2026 release says its detector claims 99.8% accuracy, that tracks flagged as AI are removed from algorithmic recommendations and left out of editorial playlists, and that it will remove AI tracks used for fraudulent streaming plus tracks unstreamed for six months or more.[1] The release also states the tool misses about 2 in 1,000 AI tracks and falsely flags fewer than 1 in 10,000 human ones. Note the release itself gives two different dates for the first AI tag, June 2025 and June 2026.
Beatport
Beatport's updated Content Guidelines, reported on 13 August 2026, do not permit fully or mostly AI-generated tracks. They are withheld at ingestion and the rights holder is told. AI-assisted music is allowed if the finished track stays mostly human-made, and gets tagged.[7] If you make DJ tools, this is the strictest store for a Suno-only catalogue.
TIDAL
TIDAL published its AI policy on 29 June 2026. It says it will not knowingly pay royalties on music it identifies as wholly AI-generated, adds an "AI" badge, and expects distributors to flag AI content before delivery.[8] Coverage notes that TIDAL's policy page defines AI music as "wholly or substantially generated" while its support FAQ applies actions only to wholly AI recordings for now, with substantial AI to follow. Plan for the broader definition.[9]
Amazon Music and SoundCloud
Neither publishes a dedicated AI-music policy I could find. Digital Music News describes Amazon as hosting AI tracks under a "catalog integrity" focus, with removals reported when IP flags are raised.[10] SoundCloud's revised terms address training, not uploads: it will not train generative models that replicate your voice, music or likeness without explicit opt-in consent.
Bandcamp
Bandcamp's 13 January 2026 post says music "generated wholly or in substantial part by AI" is not permitted, AI impersonation of artists or styles is strictly prohibited, and it may remove music it suspects is AI.[11] It never defines "substantial", and it describes no appeal route.
The distributor layer
Distributors are where your release is first accepted or rejected, so their rules bind before any store sees the file. CD Baby's help centre says it does not distribute AI-generated content, even when commercially licensed. TuneCore's GenAI Music Content Framework allows GenAI music only when the tools used trained on fully licensed datasets, though older TuneCore pages still say 100% AI works are not distributed.[12] LANDR requires disclosure at upload, caps monthly AI submissions (its help pages disagree on the number, so check your dashboard), and rules AI music out of Content ID, TikTok and Meta monetisation.[13] DistroKid rolled out its AI-assistance questions in May 2026 and relies on self-reporting.[14] The legal pressure on distributors is mapped in our UMG v DistroKid risk map.
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