Tidal Declares Zero Royalties for AI-Generated Music Starting July 15

You can use AI to write a song and put it on Tidal — but you won't see a dime.

Three Key Takeaways

Tidal announced its new AI policy on June 30, effective July 15. Tracks that are 100% AI-generated will be tagged with an "AI" badge, will earn zero royalties, and will be ineligible for direct-to-fan sales. The policy also applies to Tidal Upload, the platform's independent artist distribution channel.

AI-assisted creation and fully AI-generated content are treated differently. Music where humans use AI tools as part of the creative process can still earn royalties — as long as the work is "directly produced, written, and performed" by people. Only content that is wholly or substantially AI-generated will be flagged and stripped of revenue eligibility.

AI music that impersonates existing artists or deceives listeners will be removed outright. Tidal classifies this as "fraudulent activity," explicitly banning deepfake-style imitations and any content designed to mislead listeners.

WangDou's Take

Tidal's move looks like an artist-rights crusade, but what it's really protecting is its own royalty pool. Spotify sees over 100,000 new tracks uploaded every day, a growing share of which are AI-generated white noise, meditation loops, and "Lo-fi beats to study to" — each taking seconds to produce yet competing for the same revenue pool as an album a human spent three months recording. Tidal's user base is a fraction of Spotify's; it can't afford royalty dilution. So this isn't an artistic manifesto — it's a survival play by a smaller platform: block AI-generated junk from the payout line so subscription dollars flow to real musicians, who then have a reason to stay. As for where exactly the line sits — if AI does the arrangement, mixing, and mastering but a human sings one verse, does that count? — Tidal hasn't said. Probably because it hasn't figured that out either.

Source: Variety · TechCrunch · Music Ally