YouTube Music and Deezer Move to Label and Filter AI-Generated Music

YouTube, which owns YouTube Music, said in a press release that both the YouTube Music and YouTube apps will actively flag tracks that have been “created primarily using generative AI.” The labels will appear on the app’s player page and will include a pop-up window with more information about how AI might have been used. YouTube said its listeners have told the company they want transparency when they are hearing an AI-generated track.

Deezer said it will introduce a new toggle before the end of 2026 that allows users to “avoid AI-generated music completely.” The streaming service said the option is intended to improve the user experience and put “full focus on discovering human creators.”

Deezer CEO Alexis Lanternier said, “The explosion of AI-generated content continues to impact the whole music ecosystem, and we believe in shaping a future based on transparency and choice, with respect for artists, song writers and music fans. We remain committed to minimizing any negative effects, while empowering our users to control their music experience to the greatest extent.”

Lanternier said Deezer had seen clear user demand for the ability to filter out AI-generated music. YouTube similarly pointed to listener demand for transparency. The two announcements differ in scope: Deezer plans to let users remove AI music from their feeds, while YouTube Music is adding labels rather than removing the tracks. Whether YouTube Music will eventually introduce a feature like Deezer’s remains to be seen, according to TechRadar.

AI-generated music has become a polarizing issue for streaming platforms. TechRadar reported that Apple Music has said more than a third of its uploads are “100% AI.” Deezer has described the issue as a “colossal, even critical, challenge” for the industry, saying human artists’ revenues are being affected by AI music and that up to 85% of AI streams are fraudulent.

Deezer said it has detected and removed more than 42 million AI-generated tracks from its recommendation system and tagged more than 14 million albums as machine-made. Its AI detector tool was named one of Time’s Best Inventions of 2026 and is used to spot the 90,000 fully AI-generated tracks submitted to the platform every day, according to TechRadar.

Deezer has also acknowledged that its detection tool has flaws and could be weak to audio manipulation and as-yet-unknown creation models, an admission it made during an in-depth interview earlier this year, TechRadar reported.