TIDAL Cuts Royalties and Tags AI-Generated Music Starting July

TIDAL is cracking down on AI-generated music. Starting July 15, 2026, any fully AI-created track will lose royalties and get a clear “AI” badge.

The streaming service won’t just label these tracks. It will block their monetisation outright. If an AI track tries to impersonate a real artist, TIDAL’s automated tools will remove it immediately.

Distributors must flag AI-generated content before submission. TIDAL’s new policy is a sharp turn toward controlling AI’s impact on music revenue.

Tony Gervino, TIDAL’s EVP and Editor-in-Chief, said, “We are committed to protecting and rewarding organic creativity to avoid compromising an artist’s ability to connect with and build their fandom from TIDAL subscribers.” He added, “Regardless of what you are reading elsewhere, AI’s takeover of the music industry isn’t inevitable if we take even greater steps now to monitor and control it.”

TIDAL joins Deezer in taking a hard line. Deezer revealed in April that 44 percent of its daily new uploads—about 75,000 tracks—are fully AI-generated. Most listeners can’t tell the difference; 97 percent of respondents in a Deezer and Ipsos survey failed to distinguish AI tracks from human-made ones.

Deezer removes AI tracks from recommendations, excludes them from editorial playlists, and shares detection tools with rivals. Spotify updated its AI policies in September to label AI-influenced songs and filter spam. Apple Music introduced transparency tags in March to show AI involvement. Qobuz removed AI content from recommendations and vowed never to generate music for its own catalog.

What sets TIDAL apart is its focus on demonetisation as the main enforcement tool. Labeling is just the start. Cutting off royalties hits the issue where it hurts—artists’ income.

The policy is a “living document.” TIDAL plans to evolve it as AI tools and detection improve. The message is clear: AI music won’t slip through unnoticed or unpaid here.