Are you sick of nonexistent bands and singers? | Image by Apple
It's hard trusting reality these days, and I'm not channeling my inner Timothy Leary here – there's so much AI these days that one can't be 100% sure of anything no more. The situation is especially irritating when it comes to music.
Deezer's AI-detection system catches synthetic tracks automatically. That system flagged over 60,000 fully AI-generated songs per day in January 2026 (up from 10,000 in early 2025). That's crazy. Deezer reports that synthetic content now makes up roughly 39% of its daily uploads and that the majority of AI-music streams are linked to fraud rather than creative work.
That's why Apple Music is rolling out a new system to make AI-generated music more visible to the industry. The platform is introducing Transparency Tags, a set of metadata labels that record labels and distributors can start applying immediately and will eventually be required to use for all new content.
The four tags
What's your style? | Image by Apple Music
The Transparency Tags cover four areas:
Artwork
Track
Composition
Music Video
The Artwork tag flags albums where AI created a material part of the visual content, including static or motion graphics. Track tags identify songs where AI contributed significantly to the sound recording itself. The Composition tag highlights AI-written lyrics or musical elements, while the Music Video tag flags any visual content created with AI, whether part of an album or standalone. Labels can apply multiple tags at once depending on the content.
Recommended For You
Apple frames the system as a responsibility for the supply chain rather than the platform. Labels and distributors are asked to decide what counts as AI-generated, much like how they handle genres or credits.
Is this enough to combat AI?
Self-reporting for the win
As you see, Apple's approach is about self-reporting, while Deezer catches AI at the platform level. The Transparency Tags are the first step taken by Apple Music. Whether the system will be enough to prevent abuse or ensure accurate reporting remains unclear, especially as synthetic content continues to grow across streaming platforms.
Sebastian, a veteran of a tech writer with over 15 years of experience in media and marketing, blends his lifelong fascination with writing and technology to provide valuable insights into the realm of mobile devices. Embracing the evolution from PCs to smartphones, he harbors a special appreciation for the Google Pixel line due to their superior camera capabilities. Known for his engaging storytelling style, sprinkled with rich literary and film references, Sebastian critically explores the impact of technology on society, while also perpetually seeking out the next great tech deal, making him a distinct and relatable voice in the tech world.
A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it
is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some
random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.
Things that are NOT allowed:
Off-topic talk - you must stick to the subject of discussion
Offensive, hate speech - if you want to say something, say it politely
Spam/Advertisements - these posts are deleted
Multiple accounts - one person can have only one account
Impersonations and offensive nicknames - these accounts get banned
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts:
New accounts created within the last 24 hours may experience restrictions on how frequently they can
post or comment.
These limits are in place as a precaution and will automatically lift.
Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a
post should be moderated - please, report it.
Have a question about the rules or why you have been moderated/limited/banned? Please,
contact us.
Things that are NOT allowed:
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts: