In recent years, music generated by artificial intelligence (AI) has flooded the YouTube platform, particularly in popular "lo-fi" music playlists. These playlists often use anime character thumbnails to create a relaxing and immersive atmosphere. However, with the rapid rise of AI music, many playlist creators have started labeling their content as "No AI" to ensure listeners enjoy music created by humans.
Last year, TikTok music influencer Derrick Gee discovered that most tracks in a popular lo-fi music channel were AI-generated. The songs sounded quite generic, and no artist names were mentioned in the tracklist. Gee also noticed that the channel creator had liked a comment stating that the music was made using popular AI music generation tools like Suno. This discovery raised questions about the authenticity of AI-generated music content.
This phenomenon is not isolated; more channels are quickly gaining subscribers and views by releasing AI-generated music videos. According to social analytics website SocialBlade, the channel investigated by Gee gained over 130,000 subscribers since its creation in September 2024, with some videos reaching millions of views. These long-form videos are ideal for placing ads, and by using AI-generated music, channel creators save time on producing and selecting songs while avoiding potential copyright issues, thus increasing ad revenue.
It’s worth noting that YouTube's measures to handle AI music content remain insufficient. Although Google announced in November 2023 that creators must disclose the use of AI-generated content, enforcement remains weak due to unreliable detection methods. Compared to platforms like Facebook and Pinterest, YouTube appears to take a more proactive stance on this issue. Meanwhile, Google has launched features like "Dream Screen" and "Dream Song," encouraging creators to use AI to make videos and music, indicating that the trend of AI music is far from peaking.
Key points:
🎶 YouTube creators are labeling their content as "No AI" to offer purely human-created music.
📈 AI-generated music channels rapidly attract subscribers and views, generating substantial ad revenue.
⚠️ YouTube lacks sufficient enforcement in managing AI music content, and related detection methods remain underdeveloped.
