The music business is moving away from one catch-all AI warning and toward a two-part vocabulary.
In July, a coalition including IFPI, RIAA, A2IM, WIN, IMPALA, The Grammys and SAG-AFTRA announced a voluntary track-labeling proposal built around two terms: “AI-Generated” and “AI-Assisted.”
Under the proposal, AI-Generated would cover a recording whose primary creative elements—including a lead vocal, key instrumental performance or the whole track—were generated. AI-Assisted would describe a substantially human-made recording where generative AI contributed some expressive elements while humans performed the lead vocal and primary instruments.
The useful information is not simply that AI appeared somewhere. It is what role the technology played.
A label with limits
The proposal applies at track level to sound recordings. It does not currently cover generative AI in lyrics, composition, music videos or artwork. Those exclusions mean a two-word label cannot replace complete credits.
The coalition says it will work with streaming services, distributors and standards bodies on implementation. For listeners, the important shift is conceptual: “AI music” is beginning to split into categories that describe different kinds of authorship.