Understanding AI Usage Levels in Music Creation

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes more common in music creation, some Digital Service Providers (DSPs) now require distributors to indicate whether AI tools were involved in the creation of a track.

To support transparency, regulatory compliance, and long-term catalog integrity, creators are asked to self-declare the level of AI involvement when uploading a track.

At this time, all tracks remain eligible for monetization, regardless of AI usage. However, DSP policies may evolve, and future distribution or monetization rules could vary depending on how a track was created. Accurate disclosure helps ensure compliance and protects creators in the long run.

This declaration may also be compared against automated audio analysis tools that look for characteristics commonly associated with AI-generated audio. This process helps confirm that creators are acting in good faith when submitting their content.

Below is an explanation of the four AI usage levels available during upload.

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1. Human Created, No AI

Tracks in this category are produced entirely by humans, with no use of generative AI tools to create musical, lyrical, or vocal content.

Core logic:

• 100% of the creative contributors (lyrics, melody, composition) come from human input alone.
  
• Traditional tools (DAWs, effects, instruments, reference material) are not considered AI for this category.
  
• This category reflects fully human authorship and aligns with traditional copyright standards.
  

Common scenarios:

• Songs written on instruments or by hand.
  

Standard studio production and recording without generative text or music AI.

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2. Human Created, AI-Assisted

AI tools may be used, but only to support or enhance a human-led creative process. The human creator remains the creative decision-maker throughout.

Core logic:

• AI acts as an assistant, not as a creator of key expressive content.
  
• AI may suggest ideas, analyze musical elements, or perform auxiliary tasks, but humans determine and craft the heart of the work.
  
• The final artistic output is defined by the creator’s decisions and edits.

Example uses:

• AI suggests rhyme words, chord ideas, or production enhancements, but the human edits, rejects, and finalizes content.
  
• AI used for mixing, mastering, noise cleanup, or other technical support, while creative choices are human-directed.

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3. Human Created, Partially AI-Generated Content

AI plays a significant creative role in generating parts of the musical or lyrical content, but the creator incorporates those elements into a broader human-directed creative vision.

Core logic:

• AI-generated content forms a substantive piece of the track (e.g., instrumental section, verse, harmony), but the human cultivates, edits, selects, and organizes those parts.
  
• Human authorship and decision-making remain integral to the final composition.
  
• This aligns with the industry definition of “partial” AI-generated works that are eligible for registration and royalties.
  

Example scenarios:

• A backing track or harmonic structure created by AI, then extensively arranged and combined with human-written lyrics and performance.
  

AI-generated melody lines edited, selected, and integrated into a larger composition by a human artist.

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4. Fully AI-Generated (Prompt-Only AI)

Tracks in this category are created predominantly via AI prompts and lack meaningful human creative input to meet the threshold of human authorship.

Core logic:

• The primary creative content (music, lyrics, vocal performance) is produced solely through AI prompts.
  
• Human interaction may be limited to prompt selection and export actions — not substantive creative decisions.
  

Example scenarios:

• Entering prompts into an AI music generator to produce complete songs (music + lyrics + performances) with little to no manual human modification.
  
• Refining prompts repeatedly until a finished track exists, but without adding original human-created creative content.

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• AI