AI-generated songs have rapidly filled music streaming platforms, but the unprecedented complexity of the copyright regime in the music industry has made it one of the most legally challenging creative areas for AI companies.
According to ITNA, part of this complexity stems from the fact that, unlike many other creative works, a piece of music is usually not subject to a single right or owned by a single entity; rather, recording rights and publishing rights are held separately and often by multiple parties-from record labels to publishers and the songwriters themselves.
Nevertheless, this legal ambiguity has not slowed the adoption of the technology or the making of commercial deals.
Rapid rise of AI-generated songs
Based on data presented in the Axios report, the number of fully AI-generated songs uploaded daily to the Deezer streaming platform rose from about 10,000 tracks in January 2025 to more than 90,000 tracks in June 2026.
The share of these songs in total daily uploads also jumped in the same period from about 10 percent to over 50 percent.
This upward trend had previously been confirmed by Deezer itself. The French platform said that about 18 percent of uploaded songs are fully AI-generated and that more than 20,000 such tracks are registered on the platform daily.
The company’s head of innovation, pointing to this trend, emphasized that there are no signs of it slowing down.
From lawsuits to deals; a new path for major labels
In recent months, major music brands have moved toward striking deals with AI music startups instead of continuing legal battles.
Warner Music Group settled its copyright lawsuit against AI startup Udio and announced that the two companies will jointly launch a new platform for creating music; a service based on AI models trained on licensed works that creates a new revenue stream for artists and songwriters.
A similar path was taken earlier with startup Suno. Robert Kyncl, Warner’s CEO, described the company’s agreement with Suno-which led to the launch of joint AI music models-as the start of a new and growing revenue stream for artists and songwriters.
According to him, this is the first time Warner artists can earn money not only from consuming music but also from creating it.
Artists’ concerns remain
Despite these deals, concerns among parts of the artistic community about AI’s consequences for human creativity persist. Earlier, dozens of musicians including Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj and Stevie Wonder warned in an open letter that AI-generated music trained on their works could undermine creativity and marginalize human artists.
On the other hand, streaming platforms have acted to counter potential abuses; Deezer said it would label albums containing AI songs with a warning tag and, if misuse of these songs to manipulate streaming metrics is detected, will cut their royalty payments.
It appears the music industry, which previously endured a difficult transition to the streaming era, is now trying to turn the AI threat into an opportunity for creating a new revenue source through new legal and commercial models; although legal uncertainties about ownership and each party’s exact share of these revenues remain unresolved.