Luminate is launching a framework to identify and measure AI-generated music.
The data company, whose numbers power Billboard’s charts, says its CONNECT platform “can now flag AI-generated songs and artists worldwide,” with the labels reaching customers and partners later this year.
Those labels are not visible in CONNECT yet.
“We’ve built the capability in our platform and identified thousands of AI-generated items in our database, but we have not yet made AI classification visible to users,” Luminate said in an FAQ published alongside Tuesday’s (August 25) announcement.
Songs and recordings confirmed as fully AI-created will carry an AI Generated label.
Luminate said flagged content will also come with a dedicated review process for artists and labels to respond to incorrect tags.
“WE’VE BUILT THE CAPABILITY IN OUR PLATFORM AND IDENTIFIED THOUSANDS OF AI-GENERATED ITEMS IN OUR DATABASE, BUT WE HAVE NOT YET MADE AI CLASSIFICATION VISIBLE TO USERS.”
LUMINATE
The FAQ sets out two further tags: AI, for an artist confirmed as fully AI-generated, and Human, for an artist confirmed not to be.
The Human tag will only go to artists individually cleared by Luminate’s screening process, the company said, not by default.
An absent label does not confirm a track is human-made, Luminate said, because it has not run its full database through the process.
Screening prioritizes artists and songs from 2023 or later with high streaming activity.
“By focusing on the top of the market, we’re able to identify the AI content with the greatest impact,” Luminate said.
“GREATER VISIBILITY IS CRITICAL TO UNDERSTANDING BROADER TRENDS, ASSESSING THE RISK OF FRAUD AND MAKING INFORMED DECISIONS.”
ROB JONAS, LUMINATE
Luminate CEO Rob Jonas said: “The rapid growth of AI-generated music has outpaced the industry’s ability to consistently identify it and measure its impact.
“Greater visibility is critical to understanding broader trends, assessing the risk of fraud and making informed decisions.
“Luminate has always been the entertainment business’s source of truth, and tracking AI-generated music with the same rigor we apply to every other category is core to our mission.”
Luminate added: “Not all AI music raises concerns, but its rapid growth has made it harder to track and easier to exploit.”
Luminate’s framework has three parts.
The first is Luminate’s own identification technology, which the announcement said continuously analyzes streaming data and metadata alongside audio matching tools.
The FAQ describes that as a two-stage process, beginning with a system built by Luminate Data Science “to analyze artists and songs added to CONNECT and flag items with a high potential to be AI-created.”
“We then use audio signature matching technology to confirm those initial flags and apply AI labels,” Luminate said.
The second is self-labeled streaming data from the DSPs, which Luminate said it will ingest through existing partnerships as platforms roll out their own detection tools.
The third is attribution data taken directly from AI music companies as tracks are generated, before they reach a DSP.
Luminate said the framework will serve as “the global clearing house for AI music.”
The release said Luminate is “collaborating with the major DSPs and AI music companies.”
The FAQ, though, said Luminate does not yet incorporate AI labels from streaming platforms, and the framework puts the company only “in discussion” with AI music companies.
Jonas conceded the point in the release, saying: “This is a starting point.
“No single organization can address this challenge alone; the industry needs a collaborative approach to more accurately understand, track and measure AI-generated music.”
On July 29, a coalition of the three majors and independents including Believe, BMG, Concord, and HYBE Corp. proposed principles to keep AI-made recordings off official charts unless the generative AI service used was authorized and lawful, the track is “substantially human made,” and it raises no stream or chart manipulation concerns.
IFPI began applying those principles across its own charts the following day, and said it was working to extend them to more than 20 further chart programs, including Australia’s ARIA Charts, France’s SNEP Charts, and South Korea’s Circle Chart.
ARIA moved on the same day as Luminate’s announcement.
It updated its Charts Code of Practice on August 25 to bar wholly AI-generated tracks from the ARIA Charts and Awards, applying IFPI’s principles.
It takes effect with the chart dated Monday (August 31), published Friday (August 28), and artists can appeal.
ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd said: “Artists already use AI tools in their work, the Charts can and should evolve to keep room for that, but music generated wholesale by services built on artists’ recordings is a different matter.”
ARIA acted after scrutiny of Queensland DJ and producer Josh Fawaz’s cover of Madonna’s Like a Prayer, which peaked at No. 2 in May on ARIA’s Top 20 Australian Singles chart and has spent 16 weeks on it.
Fawaz later updated the track’s credits to disclose AI-generated vocals and drums.
ARIA has since told CBC News that the track does not meet the new eligibility requirements “based on information provided by the artist.”
Billboard moved on August 25 too, committing to identify which songs on its charts and in its editorial coverage use AI.
Luminate has supplied the data behind those charts for over 30 years, according to the company.
Billboard said it was optimistic about “new and first-to-market tools and initiatives that will tag and identify AI-created songs,” naming “the recent announcement from Luminate regarding its proprietary AI detection program.”
Deezer, though, has been detecting and tagging AI music at the platform level since 2025, and Billboard has used Deezer’s tool to determine which chart songs are AI-generated, as MBW has reported.
In its statement, Billboard Co-Chief Content Officer Jason Lipshutz said: “Although the ways in which AI informs and interacts with modern music are changing on a daily basis, we are committed to working alongside all industry parties allowing us to make clear, well-informed decisions across our platforms, now and moving forward.”
Billboard committed to identification and labeling, not to a chart-eligibility rule of the kind ARIA and IFPI have adopted.
Luminate did not say whether its flags will govern eligibility.
Luminate describes itself in the announcement as “an independently operated company, a subsidiary of PME TopCo., a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge.”
Deezer said in July that it took in close to 90,000 fully AI-generated tracks a day in June – more than half of everything newly delivered to it on peak days.
Apple Music said on August 20 that it will label songs materially generated using AI.
Spotify said on August 11 that it will badge artist profiles built around AI-generated identities as AI Personas from mid-September, and will keep their music out of editorial and algorithmic recommendations by default.Music Business Worldwide
