AI detected in 40 per cent of music released in July 2026, study reveals

AI was detected in almost 40 per cent of music released worldwide last month, according to a new study.

As Mixmag reports, the findings were published by the online music marketplace SubmitHub.

The platform’s AI detector analysed more than a million releases from July, and discovered that 23.2 per cent were fully generated by artificial intelligence. It also found that 15.3 per cent featured signs of AI-generated audio that had been “modified or processed” by humans.

This means that 38.5 per cent of all music released last month was made with the involvement of AI, to some degree.

SubmitHub, which lets users submit music to playlists and blogs, launched its AI detection tool, SH Labs, earlier this summer. The function aims to highlight a “growing disclosure problem” with artificial intelligence in music.

Jason Grishkoff, SubmitHub founder, explained: “I think the path forward for AI music is disclosure. People should be able to decide for themselves whether they want to engage with AI-generated music. Our job is to give them enough information to make that choice.”

The AI detection tool is also being used by the likes of Bandcamp and Traxsource, as well as GEMA. The latter is a performance rights organisation which won a landmark court case against AI music generator platform Suno last month.

Bandcamp banned all AI-created music at the start of this year, saying: “We reserve the right to remove any music on suspicion of being AI-generated.” Beatport followed suit just last week, promising “greater transparency” for listeners while “protecting human creativity”.

Earlier in the summer, TIDAL shared a new policy to crack down on AI-created music. The online service confirmed that it would not be paying royalties to any material made entirely by artificial intelligence.

Spotify, meanwhile, is introducing a new labelling system so that users can quickly identify artists and content created by the rising tech. Elsewhere, Deezer has revealed that AI-generated music now surpasses 50 per cent of daily uploads on the platform.

Apple Music had earlier unveiled plans to let users know if they were listening to music that had been made using AI.

In March, figures from the UK music industry responded to new government action on copyright, which prevents AI firms from using existing work without permission. However, they argued that much more needed to be done beyond that first step.

Major acts such as Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Dua Lipa and Elton John previously led a campaign urging the government to protect artists’ work from being ripped off. This came after the government put forward controversial plans to change copyright rules to let AI firms “steal” copyrighted works without paying or seeking consent from music creators, writers and artists.

Last year, SoundCloud updated its AI policy in response to backlash. The service had faced criticism over appearing to permit content uploaded to the streamer to be used to train AI. “Our position is simple: AI should support artists, not replace them,” said CEO Eliah Seton. “Any use of these tools on SoundCloud will continue to reflect that.”

In February, Google gave its virtual assistant Gemini the ability to create AI-generated music.

A study in 2025 found that 97 per cent of people “can’t tell the difference” between real and AI music. The previous year, another study warned that people working in music were likely to lose a quarter of their income to AI over the next four years.

In other news, Boy George hit out at has at Bandcamp for removing his pro-Israel song ‘We Will Dance Again’, which was made using AI. Bandcamp told NME that the track was “removed ​based ​on violation of our Acceptable ​Use & Moderation Policy, which in specific ​regard ​to this case, prohibits music and ​audio that ​is wholly ​or in substantial part created, composed, ​or ​generated ​by ​artificial intelligence”.

Empire Of The Sun’s Luke Steele recently admitted that he uses AI to make music, saying the tech can “empower artists that know how to use it”. Tyga said he used the tech as a “tool” on his new album ‘$tarface’, too. Queen’s Brian May, however, claimed “we actually don’t need AI” last week.

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