Believe has strengthened its stance on generative AI music, blocking unlicensed tracks while expanding licences with approved AI firms, reflecting a broader industry push for control and copyright protection amidst rising AI-generated content.
Believe has tightened its rules on generative AI music, moving to block tracks created on unlicensed platforms such as Suno through its distributor TuneCore, while simultaneously expanding licensing ties with approved AI firms. According to Music Business Worldwide, the company says it can now identify the model and platform behind a recording with enough accuracy to stop distribution when the source is an unlicensed service. It has also struck music licensing agreements with ElevenLabs and Udio, both of which have been building out their own rights deals across the industry.
The policy shift reflects a broader framework that Believe and TuneCore have been developing since at least 2023, when TuneCore set out AI principles centred on consent, control, value-sharing and transparency. TuneCore’s published materials say it supports AI-assisted human creativity but rejects wholly AI-generated music, while its content framework stresses that training data should be licensed and that creators should have greater visibility over how their work is used. Believe’s latest move appears to harden that approach by treating unlicensed AI output as a distribution risk rather than a borderline case.
Denis Ladegaillerie, Believe’s founder and chief executive, has argued that distributors and streaming platforms should take a firmer line because unlicensed AI content can create copyright exposure and undermine the user experience. Music Business Worldwide reported that he has urged major DSPs to adopt detection tools of their own, warning that firms which continue to host disputed AI material could face future legal problems. His comments also sit against a wider industry backdrop in which labels, distributors and platforms are still debating how much AI-generated content should be allowed into mainstream release pipelines.
The company’s stance comes as AI music volume rises sharply across streaming services. Deezer recently said it was receiving about 75,000 fully AI-generated uploads a day, though Ladegaillerie has suggested such material still accounts for a very small share of total listening. That gap between upload volume and stream share helps explain why executives are treating the issue as both a copyright problem and a curation problem. Believe’s position is that unlicensed “AI slop” should be blocked, while licensed tools that compensate rights-holders can still have a role in production, video creation and broader artist development.
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Source: Noah Wire Services