B2StreamingNov 9, 20261 min readEdited by William Boles

Tidal labels fully AI-generated tracks and stops paying royalties on them

Under its AI policy, Tidal keeps wholly AI-generated music on the service but marks it with a badge and excludes it from royalties and direct-to-fan sales.

Tidal's AI policy lets wholly AI-generated music stay on the service but stops paying royalties on it, according to Variety and EDM. The rules took effect July 15, 2026, though MusicTech gives June 29.

Tracks Tidal identifies as wholly AI-generated get an 'AI' badge and are not eligible for royalties or direct-to-fan sales. AI-assisted human work is treated like any other music.

Content that impersonates artists, misleads listeners, manipulates streams or floods the platform may be blocked or removed. Independent artists who use Tidal Upload fall under the same standards.

One analysis notes that Tidal has not publicly detailed an appeals process for tracks wrongly flagged as AI-generated.

The Lockgroove take

Tidal chose economics over a ban, and that is the sharper tool

Removing AI tracks is a moderation fight; withholding the money is a business decision. If a fully synthetic track earns nothing, flooding a catalogue with them stops paying.

The weak point is detection. A badge and a royalty ban are only as fair as the system that decides what is 'wholly' AI, so an appeals route should be public.

Put this on

01
Kraftwerk, "The Robots" (The Man-Machine, 1978)
Machines singing about machines, decades before generative AI.
Play on Apple Music
02
Daft Punk, "Human After All" (Human After All, 2005)
A robotic groove with a human title.
Play on Apple Music
03
Radiohead, "Fitter Happier" (OK Computer, 1997)
A synthetic voice reading out a list, still the eeriest take on automation.
Play on Apple Music