Tidal's 100 Percent Line

Tidal has drawn its line at 100 percent. The AI policy on its support site says, "Recordings that Tidal identifies as wholly AI-generated are not eligible for royalty attribution." Put plainly, if Tidal decides a machine made a recording from start to finish, that recording earns nothing on the service.

The money and the label did not change on the same day. The Verge and Music Business Worldwide (MBW) both report that demonetization applied from the policy's publication on June 29, 2026. MBW reports that the "AI" tag listeners see, and the removal of fraudulent tracks, took effect on July 15.

The policy does not ban AI music. Tidal says it "allows AI-generated music on the platform, provided it complies with our AI Policy, Terms and Conditions of Use, Content Guidelines, and other applicable requirements." It defines AI-generated recordings narrowly, as "recordings that are wholly generated using generative artificial intelligence."

That narrow definition is the center of the story, and Tidal says it chose it on purpose: "Due to limitations in AI-detection technology, and to avoid false positives, we will only be taking action with respect to wholly AI-generated recordings." A false positive is a human-made track wrongly flagged as machine-made. The company also names the cost of that caution: "some partially AI-generated content may remain unlabeled on Tidal." As written, the rule does not apply today to a musician who uses an AI tool for one part of a song. For a listener, an unlabeled track is not proof that no AI was used.

One more distinction matters. A recording is the audio you stream. A composition is the song underneath it: the melody and the words. Tidal's page says, "We will be taking no actions as to AI-generated compositions." The policy is about the sound file, not the songwriting.

How Tidal decides what counts as wholly AI is less clear. The Verge reported that the platform "didn't specify what tools it's using to identify AI-generated music." Part of the job is also being moved upstream. Tidal told MBW: "We expect – and will begin to enforce – that content distributors identify AI-generated content before it reaches our platform." Distributors are the companies that deliver releases to streaming services, including those of independent artists.

Listeners get a switch. "You can turn off AI-labeled recordings in Settings. Once it's off, AI-labeled recordings won't play," the support page says.

The same standards cover Tidal Upload, the service's direct-to-fan channel. Upload recordings that Tidal determines are wholly AI-generated "may be labeled as AI-generated and will not be eligible for direct-to-fan monetization." Separately, Tidal "reserves the right to determine whether content is being distributed primarily for fraudulent purposes," and may block or remove it. MBW quotes Tidal's Tony Gervino on the reason for acting now: "our inboxes (and your world, we're assuming) are inundated with music that is created completely AI-generated and impersonating existing artists purely for financial gain."

Some musicians will want to read the appeal sentence closely. "If you believe your track was incorrectly identified as wholly AI-generated and you did not use AI to create the recording, please submit an appeal through our support form." The route is described for artists who did not use AI at all.

Other services split along one question: does the platform detect AI, or does it wait for someone to declare it? According to MBW, Apple Music launched a tagging system in March that "relies on labels and distributors to declare AI-generated content, rather than detecting it at the platform level." MBW reports that Spotify began testing AI tags in song credits in April, "but only where an artist has chosen to disclose AI use through their label or distributor."

Spotify's own September 2025 post explains why it avoids a yes-or-no label: "We know the use of AI tools is increasingly a spectrum, not a binary, where artists and producers may choose to use AI to help with some parts of their productions and not others." The same post admits the limit of disclosure: "the absence of a credit doesn't mean AI wasn't used." On money, Spotify says "royalties are paid based on listener engagement, and all music is treated equally, regardless of the tools used to make it." Its line on voice cloning is consent: "Vocal impersonation is only allowed in music on Spotify when the impersonated artist has authorized the usage."

Deezer works closest to Tidal's model and publishes numbers. It says "All fully AI-generated songs are automatically removed from algorithmic recommendations and are not included in editorial playlists." The company says its tool can detect fully AI-generated music "from the most prolific generative models – such as Suno and Udio." Deezer is licensing that tool commercially, and it says Billboard uses it "to determine which tracks in their charts are AI-generated." In January, Deezer said "Up to 85% of all streams on AI-generated music are detected as fraudulent – they are demonetized and removed from the royalty pool." MBW reports that Deezer said in April it was receiving close to 75,000 fully AI-generated tracks a day, more than 44% of all new music delivered to it.

At the edges, according to The FADER, Bandcamp has "banned music that was wholly or made in substantial part with AI," while SoundCloud allows AI-assisted uploads and "does not tag or demonetize AI tracks."

Tidal does not claim to have settled the bigger argument. MBW reports that the company acknowledged a debate over whether some AI music, such as tracks built on "fairly and properly licensed" models, should earn royalties. The FADER connects the stakes to streaming's pro-rata model, under which, it writes, hosting AI music "may pose a threat to taking away listens and money from hardworking artists." The FADER also notes that some artists, including the anonymous DJ duo Two Shell, see AI as a creative tool. Both positions are present on every one of these platforms.

For now, Tidal's rule reaches only the far end of that range. The policy says what could change it: "As reliability of AI-detection technology improves, we will expand actions to recordings that are substantially AI-generated." The word to watch is "substantially."

“For a listener, an unlabeled track is not proof that no AI was used.”

1. Tidal Support: AI Policy
2. The Verge: Tidal won't pay royalties on AI-generated music
3. Music Business Worldwide: TIDAL to automatically tag AI-generated music
4. Spotify: Strengthens AI Protections for Artists, Songwriters, and Producers
5. Deezer Newsroom: AI-music detection and fraud
6. The FADER: how other streaming platforms compare

Daisha L is one of TCC Art Life’s AI writers. Every story is researched, fact-checked and approved by Max Luger before it runs. How we work