AI Tool Commercial Rights

AI music tools are everywhere — and the terms attached to them vary wildly. Whether you can legally release an AI-generated track on Spotify, Apple Music, or any other streaming service depends almost entirely on which tier of the AI tool you’re paying for and what its license actually says about distribution.

This guide walks through the practical questions: which tier you need, whether you actually own the output, and which tools to avoid altogether.

Caution

This page covers the commercial rights side of AI generation — whether you’re allowed to distribute the output. It does not replace AI-Generated Content, which covers how to disclose AI usage on your release. You need to handle both.

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Why this matters

When you sign up for an AI music tool, the subscription tier you pick is also the license you’re operating under. Free and paid tiers grant very different rights, and most disputes we see come from artists assuming the rights are the same.

The three things to be clear on before you upload:

1. Free tiers are almost never licensed for streaming distribution. Free output is typically for personal use, demos, social media, or evaluation — not commercial release. Releasing free-tier output on a DSP is a license violation, and the AI company can issue a takedown.
2. A paid subscription = a commercial license, not ownership. On most tools, the AI company retains copyright. Your paid plan gives you the right to use, distribute, and monetize the output — but you don’t actually own it the way you’d own a song you wrote yourself.
3. Some tools don’t permit DSP release at any tier. Mubert and Beatoven.ai are licensed for use inside other content (videos, podcasts, apps) — never as standalone tracks on streaming platforms. No subscription tier unlocks that.

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Before you distribute — quick checklist

Run through this before you upload an AI-generated track to LabelGrid:

• Paid tier? You’re on a commercial subscription with the AI tool, not a free or trial plan.
• License covers DSP release? The tool’s terms explicitly permit distribution on streaming platforms (not just “personal use” or “social media”).
• Receipt or screenshot saved. You can show proof of an active subscription if our review team asks.
• Voice cloning consent (if applicable). If the track uses an AI-cloned voice of a real person, you have written permission from that person.
• Cover license (if applicable). If the track is an AI-generated cover of someone else’s song, you have a mechanical license — see Cover Song Licensing.
• AI disclosure set in LabelGrid. Generative AI and Composition AI fields are filled in — see AI-Generated Content.

If you can’t tick all the relevant boxes, hold off on the upload until you can.

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Per-tool quick reference

The table below summarizes the major AI music tools we see in submissions. Terms change frequently — always re-check the tool’s own license before relying on this.

Tool	Free tier OK for DSPs?	Paid tier required	DSP-eligible?	Notes
Suno	No	Pro ($10/mo) or Premier ($30/mo)	Yes — with AI disclosure	Paid users get a commercial license, not copyright. AI disclosure required via DDEX.
Udio	No	Pre-October 2025 paid plan only	Only if downloaded before October 2025	After UMG deal: “walled garden” — downloads disabled, no external distribution.
ElevenLabs	No	Any paid plan; Eleven Music for releases	Yes — paid plans; Eleven Music designed for DSPs	Voice cloning of a real person requires their written consent. Eleven Music splits royalties with rightsholders.
Boomy	No	Pro ($29.99/mo) for full commercial rights	Yes — built-in distribution + third-party	Boomy keeps copyright; you get a commercial license. 80/20 royalty split on Boomy’s own distribution.
Soundraw	No	Artist Starter ($19.49/mo) or higher	Yes — but tracks must be substantially modified	Raw, unmodified Soundraw beats cannot be released. Add vocals, instruments, or significant remix work.
Mubert	No	Not applicable	No — at any tier	License is for use inside videos, podcasts, ads, games. Standalone release on streaming is explicitly prohibited.
AIVA	No	Pro (EUR 49/mo)	Yes — Pro tier only, individuals or small businesses	Pro license requires <$300K annual revenue and <3 employees. Larger operations need an Enterprise license.
Loudly	Limited	Personal ($8/mo) or Pro ($24/mo)	Yes — built-in distribution available	Favorable terms: you keep full commercial rights and 100% of streaming royalties.
Stable Audio	No	Creator ($11.99/mo)	Yes — for individual artists	Don’t confuse the paid Stable Audio platform with the open-source “Stable Audio Open” model — the open model is non-commercial.
Beatoven.ai	No	Not applicable	No — at any tier	License is for video, podcast, and audiobook scoring. Streaming distribution is explicitly forbidden.

Note

DSP rules also evolve independently of the AI tool’s terms. Bandcamp, for example, has stopped accepting AI-generated music entirely, and TuneCore won’t distribute fully AI-generated work. Even when your AI tool licenses the release, individual platforms can decline it.

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Tools that don’t allow DSP distribution at any tier

Mubert and Beatoven.ai are not eligible for release on LabelGrid

Mubert and Beatoven.ai are excellent for licensing background music into your own videos, podcasts, games, or apps — but their terms explicitly prohibit redistributing the generated tracks as standalone music on Spotify, Apple Music, or any streaming service. No subscription tier unlocks distribution rights.

If your catalog is built on either of these tools, we won’t be able to accept it for distribution. This isn’t a LabelGrid policy — it’s the tool’s own license.

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Special cases worth flagging

Soundraw — modification required

Soundraw beats can be released to streaming platforms, but only if you’ve substantially modified them. The tool’s terms specifically require that “the final, modified song needs to sound clearly different to the original, downloaded track.” That means adding your own vocals, additional instruments, or significant remix work — not uploading a raw Soundraw beat with a new title.

Soundraw also forbids registering its content with YouTube Content ID.

Udio — walled garden after October 2025

In October 2025, Udio settled litigation with Universal Music Group and shifted to a closed platform model. Downloads were disabled, and post-settlement content can only be streamed inside Udio itself. A short window in early November 2025 let users download previously created songs.

In practice, this means we can only consider Udio-generated tracks that you can demonstrate were created and downloaded before the cutoff, while you were on a paid plan. Anything generated since cannot be exported and therefore cannot be distributed.

Boomy — $19 buyout option and the 80/20 split

Boomy keeps copyright on songs created with its tool by default. Pro subscribers can use third-party distributors, but Boomy still retains underlying ownership. If you use Boomy’s own built-in distribution, the royalty split is 80% to you and 20% to Boomy — you don’t keep 100%.

Boomy also has a history of streaming-fraud removals on Spotify (a 2023 mass takedown), so Boomy-sourced catalogs typically face heightened review.

ElevenLabs — Eleven Music marketplace

ElevenLabs has two relevant offerings. Standard paid plans cover voice generation and cloning for general commercial use (still requiring consent for any cloned real-person voice). The newer Eleven Music product (launched August 2025) is purpose-built for music release, with rightsholder licensing baked in and royalties shared with the underlying rightsholders rather than retained entirely by the user.

If you’re cloning a real person’s voice — alive or recently deceased — written consent from that person (or their estate) is required. We will ask to see it.

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How LabelGrid checks this

When you submit AI-generated content, our review team may verify a few things before approving the release:

• Subscription tier. We may ask for a screenshot of your active paid plan or a recent billing receipt. This confirms you have the commercial license you’re claiming.
• Source tool. If a release looks AI-generated and the source tool isn’t disclosed, we may ask which platform was used so we can match it against the correct license terms.
• Voice consent. If a track features what sounds like a real artist’s voice, we’ll ask for written consent from that person before approving.
• Cover licensing. If an AI-generated track is also a cover of an existing song, the cover license is required separately — the AI license doesn’t cover the underlying composition.
• Disclosure accuracy. We check that the Generative AI and Composition AI disclosure fields on the release match what’s actually in the track.

Keeping proof of subscription, voice consent, and cover licenses organized in advance shortens review time considerably.

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FAQ

”I generated the track on a free trial — can I still release it if I upgrade now?”

It depends on the tool’s terms. Some tools grant the commercial license at the moment of generation (in which case upgrading after the fact doesn’t help), others grant it based on your current subscription status. Where the answer is unclear, the safest path is to regenerate the track on your paid plan and use that version.

”If the AI tool’s terms change, does that affect songs I’ve already released?”

Usually grandfathered content keeps the rights it was licensed under at the time of generation, but this is the exact scenario that broke for Udio users when the UMG deal closed. Save proof of your subscription and the generation date for anything you’ve released — if a tool’s terms change, that record is what protects you.

”Can I release a track that combines outputs from multiple AI tools?”

Only if every tool involved permits DSP distribution at the tier you used, and none of them are on the prohibited list (Mubert, Beatoven.ai). If even one component came from a tool that doesn’t license streaming release, the whole track is affected.

”Do I need to credit the AI tool on my release?”

Not as an artist, no — the AI tool is not a co-author for crediting purposes. But you do need to set the AI disclosure fields accurately in LabelGrid, and some tools (like AIVA’s Free tier) require attribution as part of their license — which is a separate reason not to use those tiers for commercial release.

”What if the AI tool I use isn’t on this list?”

Read its terms of service carefully — specifically the sections on commercial use, distribution, and ownership. Look for explicit permission to release on streaming platforms. If the language is ambiguous, contact the AI tool’s support, or contact us and we’ll help assess it before you commit to a release.

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Need help?

If you’re unsure whether a specific AI tool or subscription tier covers what you want to do, contact our support team before you upload. It’s much easier to confirm rights up front than to deal with takedowns after the fact.