We all have our own set of standards that influence our music streaming service of choice, whether it’s sound quality, algorithmic recommendations, or shareability between users and third-party platforms. For example, Apple Music is known for its high-sound quality options such as spatial audio, Tidal for its artist-oriented model and lossless audio, and Spotify for its hyper-personalized playlists that adapt to users’ daily routines. And while many users agree that YouTube Music’s recommendations are better than other streaming services, it lacks a feature distinct from competing platforms like Tidal, designed for those who prefer their music human-made: tags for 100% AI-generated music.
As noted on Tidal’s website, the platform has transparent policies when it comes to AI-generated music. Although Tidal allows such tracks to be uploaded to its streaming service, the company says they must be labeled appropriately, including for AI. Additionally, Tidal offers its users the ability to report songs that they believe are AI-generated but are not labeled as such, creating control over the system. Tidal may also prevent tracks labeled as AI-generated from being released or added to their libraries or recommendations.
Spotify has proposed similar approaches, including labels for AI artists. YouTube Music hasn’t been as publicly public about its plans or approach. Articles from Music Business Worldwide and Billboard Music indicate that so far, YouTube has implemented AI content tags for videos in May 2026. However, the system focuses on video elements and does not apply as much to purely audio tracks. Instead, the company has focused its efforts on reducing payments for AI-generated music.
YouTube Music needs a tag identifying AI-generated music
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YouTube Music offers more than 100 million songs on the platform, and no one really knows how many of the platform’s songs are primarily created with AI. One study also found that only 3% of listeners could identify AI-generated music, despite growing backlash against the technology. Reddit user verdedefome shared his concerns about how this affected his overall experience in r/YouTubeMusic: “I’m worried that it’s going to get harder and harder to find new small artists through (YouTube Music) now because AI is going to take over all the space.”
As tags identifying AI-generated tracks on YouTube Music audio tracks remain absent, users would have to do the searching themselves. Fortunately, some artists have voluntarily disclosed their use of generative AI, but that’s not all. To help promote transparency, platforms like Deezer have created tools to identify AI-generated data, which could help reduce some steps in the process. On the other hand, the only other option YouTube Music users can do once they’ve identified AI-generated tracks is to press “thumbs down” on the song, remove it from your library, and hope it doesn’t come back in your recommendations.
Google seems to be working on the problem. Android Authority reported that some users had a test option in YouTube Music that allowed them to long-press on any song or album and select the “Do not recommend artist” option. This will prevent the service from including them in recommendations. However, this feature appears to still be under testing.
If you don’t mind following these steps and choose to rely on YouTube Music’s ability to provide you with quality recommendations, then it’s reasonable to stay on the platform. Otherwise, consider subscribing to other major music streaming services.
