Starting Monday, May 25, 2026, InterSpace Distribution is introducing new mandatory metadata fields for all release submissions. If you are an artist or label distributing through InterSpace, here is exactly what is changing — and why it matters for your releases, your royalties, and your standing on streaming platforms.
Three New Required Fields, Effective May 25
Every new release submitted via InterSpace from May 25 onward must answer three new questions at the point of submission. These are not optional — the dashboard will require them before you can proceed.
1. Was AI Used to Create Your Cover Image?
If you used an AI image generator — Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion, or any other tool — to create or edit your cover art, you now need to declare it. You will also be asked to specify:
- How much AI was involved — was it fully AI-generated, or did you use AI as one element of a broader design process?
- Which platform or tool you used
2. Was AI Used in Your Music Production?
This covers AI involvement at any stage of the audio — composition, arrangement, sound design, mixing, or mastering. Tools like Suno, Udio, AIVA, Soundraw, Landr, iZotope, and similar platforms fall under this field. You will need to indicate:
- The degree of AI involvement — from fully AI-generated tracks through to AI-assisted mastering
- Which AI tool or platform was used
3. Country of Recording
All releases must now include the country where the music was recorded. This applies to studio recordings, home recordings, live sessions, and remotely produced music. For a track produced across multiple locations, use the country where the primary recording work took place.
Why Is InterSpace Doing This?
DSPs Are Getting Stricter on AI Transparency
Streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and others are tightening their policies around AI-generated and AI-assisted content. In some cases, platforms are removing undisclosed AI content — which can trigger takedowns, account strikes, or withheld royalties.
By collecting AI disclosure data at the point of submission, InterSpace builds the infrastructure to pass the correct flags to each DSP, protecting your releases from compliance violations before they happen. Getting ahead of this now is significantly less disruptive than managing takedowns after a release is live.
Country of Recording Affects Your Royalties
Neighbouring rights organisations and collective management organisations (CMOs) — the bodies that collect performance royalties in many territories — use country of recording to determine which royalty pools apply to your music. Missing or incorrect data can mean royalties that never reach you. This field directly supports accurate rights administration and royalty collection across the markets InterSpace distributes to.
What Counts as AI Use?
The most common question artists are asking is: does my workflow trigger the disclosure requirement?
The general principle: if an AI tool was used to generate, modify, or meaningfully contribute to a creative element — cover image or audio — it should be disclosed. This includes:
- Fully AI-generated cover artwork
- AI-generated visual elements incorporated into a cover design
- Music tracks or compositions generated by AI tools (Suno, Udio, etc.)
- AI-generated stems, loops, or progressions used in production
- Vocals or instruments generated or substantially altered by AI
Standard technical tools used for optimisation — noise reduction, pitch correction, de-essing — are considered industry-standard and do not require disclosure. The line is meaningful creative contribution, not routine technical processing.
Does This Affect Existing Live Releases?
No. Releases already live on streaming platforms will not be retroactively required to update. The new fields apply to new submissions from May 25 onward.
If you have existing live releases with undisclosed AI involvement and want to proactively update them, contact support at hello@interspacemusic.com to discuss your options.
Where Do I Fill This In?
The new fields will appear in your release submission dashboard from May 25. They are part of the standard submission flow — you will be prompted to complete them before your release can be submitted. There is no separate form or process.
What This Means for the Broader Industry
AI is embedded across the music production workflow at every level — from bedroom producers using AI mastering tools to major label acts incorporating AI composition assistance. The shift happening now is not about whether AI is used, but about transparency becoming a non-negotiable part of the release process.
InterSpace Distribution continues to accept AI-generated and AI-assisted content across all plan tiers. These new fields are not a restriction — they are an infrastructure layer that allows that content to be distributed correctly, compliantly, and in a way that protects both the artist and the platform relationship.
If you have questions about these changes ahead of May 25, reach out to the InterSpace support team at hello@interspacemusic.com.
