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Can you sell AI music? Suno, DistroKid and TuneCore rules

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It depends on the tool, your plan, and the place where you send the track. Here are the current rules, checked on each platform's own pages in October 2026.

By , a composer with 300+ tracks on audio stock and 12 years in production. Updated 26 October 2026. 15 min read.

In short. You can sell a song made on a paid Suno plan. Songs from the free Suno plan and from Udio are for personal use only. Most distributors accept AI music, with rules. TuneCore takes it only from tools trained on licensed music, and CD Baby does not take it. Almost all stock sites and libraries refuse it, from Epidemic Sound and Artlist to Storyblocks and AudioJungle. Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and SoundCloud accept it. Deezer accepts it, but tags it and keeps it out of recommendations. Bandcamp refuses it. In the US, a song made only from a prompt has no copyright. Keep a record of how each track was made, and check the rules again before each release.

Two separate questions

Permission comes from the tool's terms. They say who owns the output and whether you may sell it.

Acceptance comes from each place you upload to. A distributor, a store or a stock site can refuse AI music even if the tool allows commercial use.

Copyright is a third matter. It decides whether anyone can stop others from copying the song. More on it below.

All rules on this page come from the platforms' own pages, read in October 2026. They change often.

Suno and Udio: who owns the song

Suno

Suno's help center says it like this:

  • Free plan (Basic). Suno owns the songs. You may use them only for personal, non-commercial purposes. They cannot be monetized.
  • Pro or Premier plan. If you were subscribed when the song was made, you own it and may use it commercially. Suno says this allows distribution to Spotify and Apple Music, and use in YouTube and TikTok videos. You keep these rights after you cancel.
  • Upgrading later. A subscription does not give commercial rights to songs made earlier on the free plan "by default". Suno says it may offer this in some cases, with no guarantee.

New terms took effect on 3 September 2026. Since then, commercial use is tied to downloads. You may not use a song commercially unless you downloaded it through an approved channel. Downloads per month depend on the plan: 20 on Pro, 60 on Premier. Free accounts get 7 trial downloads for life, and these are not for commercial use.

One point is not clear. The new terms do not say what happens to a song made on the free plan and downloaded after you upgrade. The help center still says there is no retroactive license. Until Suno says otherwise, treat free-plan songs as non-commercial.

Two more lines in Suno's terms matter for sellers:

  • Suno makes no promise that any copyright exists in the output.
  • Suno may say publicly that a song was made with Suno. You may not remove its watermarks or metadata to hide where a song came from.

Udio

Udio's terms were last revised on 12 November 2025. Under them, Udio and its licensors own the output. You may use it only for personal, non-commercial purposes. You may not download it. You may not put it on Spotify, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, SoundCloud or similar platforms.

If you downloaded Udio songs before that change, ask Udio which terms cover them. Keep the date of each download.

Other tools

Read three things in any tool's terms: who owns the output, whether you may use it commercially, and on which plan. TuneCore also asks a fourth: was the tool trained on licensed music?

Can you sell Suno songs?

Yes, if you made the song on Pro or Premier and downloaded it from Suno. Songs from the free plan are for personal use only. Upgrading later does not change that by default. Where you can send the song is a separate question. DistroKid takes it with AI credits. CD Baby does not take it. TuneCore will take only songs from Suno's new licensed models. Most stock sites refuse it.

Where AI music is accepted

Three tables follow: stock sites and libraries, distributors, and streaming services. The most used places come first. Everything is as of October 2026.

Some libraries do not write a rule for artists. They only say that their catalog is made by humans. The tables read that as "not accepted". "No public rule found" means the place's own pages say nothing about AI music. In that case, ask support before you upload.

Stock sites and music libraries

Place Music made with AI What to know
Epidemic Sound Not accepted Says it has only human-made music and no AI music. It is not taking new artists now.
Artlist Not accepted Says every track in its catalog is made by human composers. It is not taking music submissions now.
Motion Array No public rule found in October 2026. Ask support. Artist submissions are closed now.
AudioJungle and Envato Elements Not accepted as the item or its main part AI is allowed only in previews. New authors join by invitation only, and audio authors are not being invited now.
Pond5 Not accepted Repeated AI uploads can get the account suspended or closed.
Musicbed No public rule found in October 2026. Ask support. Artists are hand-picked. You ask about submissions by email.
Soundstripe Not accepted Says every track is made by human artists. It is not taking submissions now.
PremiumBeat No public rule found in October 2026. Ask support. You must own 100% of the composition and the recording. Samples and sound-alikes are not allowed.
Audio Network Not accepted Says its catalog has no AI-made compositions or recordings. It promises to stay 100% human-made. It speaks well of non-generative AI tools in production.
Storyblocks Not accepted Accounts that keep uploading AI content may be removed.
Uppbeat Not accepted Says every asset on Uppbeat is human-made. Artist applications are closed as of October 2026.
Shutterstock Not accepted from contributors The policy page does not name music. Music contributors go through a separate, small program.
Melody Loops No public rule found in October 2026. Ask support. Each track is reviewed before it goes into the catalog.
AudioSparx Accepted, with rules Each track needs enough human work to have copyright. Pure AI output is not allowed. You do not need to mark AI tracks.
Audiosocket Fully AI music not accepted AI help with mixing, mastering or cleanup is fine. It is not fine when AI makes the melody, lyrics, vocals or structure.
Jamendo Licensing Not accepted AI-made music is rejected from the licensing catalog.

Many of the big libraries are closed to new artists right now. So a new composer with AI music has very few libraries to send it to.

Distributors

Place Music made with AI What to know
DistroKid Accepted, with rules You must own 100% of the rights. No impersonation, no mass-made spam. Disclose AI in AI credits.
TuneCore Only from tools trained on fully licensed data Applies if AI was used at any step. Google Flow Music is its approved partner. On 8 September 2026, Believe and Suno said songs from Suno's new licensed models will become eligible.
CD Baby Not accepted Not even when partly AI, and not even when the tool allows commercial use. Repeated attempts can end your account.
Amuse Accepted, with rules At most 10 releases with AI in any 7 days. No AI covers. No tracks that imitate well-known artists.
Ditto Music Accepted, with rules You must hold all rights. No voice cloning, no bulk spam. Fully AI songs cannot go into Ditto's publishing service.
LANDR Accepted, with rules Disclose AI elements when you upload. A monthly limit of 20 or 60 AI tracks, by plan. No AI covers.
UnitedMasters Accepted, with rules You need commercial rights on the day you made the track. For Suno, that means a paid plan then. Many AI uploads at once can be flagged as spam.
Symphonic Accepted, with rules Disclose AI when you upload. The AI tool must meet Symphonic's licensing rules. No impersonation, no mass uploads.
RouteNote Some AI accepted Be ready to name the site that made the track. AI tracks do not go to Amazon, Content ID or Korean stores.
Believe Blocks AI from unlicensed tools Songs from Suno's new licensed model will become eligible, the same as at TuneCore.

Distributors that accept AI music do not send it everywhere. Their pages list services that refuse it. YouTube Content ID and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) are on most of these lists. The rest of each list differs, so check your distributor's page.

Does TuneCore accept AI music?

Only from AI tools trained on fully licensed music. The rule applies even if you used AI at just one step. TuneCore names one approved partner, Google Flow Music. Suno and Believe, TuneCore's parent company, said on 8 September 2026 that songs from Suno's new licensed models will become eligible. Songs from Suno's older models are not. TuneCore's own page, checked on 21 October 2026, still names only Flow Music. Ask TuneCore before you send a Suno song.

How to fill out AI credits on DistroKid

  1. Upload the track as usual. DistroKid asks if any of it was generated by AI.
  2. If yes, pick at least one: The lyrics (AI wrote the words), The music (AI composed the melody), All of the audio (everything the listener hears is AI), or Part of the audio (some of it is AI, some is human).
  3. If you pick All of the audio, say whether your artist name is a human or an AI persona.
  4. To change the credits later, open the album page and click Credits next to the song. Or go to distrokid.com/credits.

You do not need an AI credit for AI used as a tool: pitch correction, auto-tune, AI-assisted mixing or mastering. Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube show these credits to listeners.

Streaming services and stores

You reach most of these through a distributor. Its rules come first, then the store's.

Place Music made with AI What to know
Spotify Accepted Rules against spam and impersonation. AI credits, and a badge for AI-made artist profiles. More below.
Apple Music Accepted Your distributor can tag a track, its composition, artwork or video as made with AI. The tag is used when AI made a "material portion". Apple's spec marks the tag as optional. Without it, Apple assumes no AI.
YouTube and YouTube Music Accepted Disclose AI music that is the main focus of a video. Mass-produced AI videos are not eligible to earn money. Content ID is a separate matter, see below.
Deezer Accepted, but tagged Deezer detects fully AI tracks and tags the album for listeners. These tracks are left out of algorithmic recommendations and editorial playlists. In July 2026, it said it will remove AI tracks used for stream fraud, and those not streamed for 6 months.
SoundCloud Accepted, with rules No impersonation. You must respect other people's rights. Creators under the EU AI Act are asked to write "AI-generated or manipulated" in the track description.
Bandcamp Not accepted if made "wholly or in substantial part" by AI Bandcamp may remove music it suspects is AI-generated.

Spotify

Spotify says all music is treated equally, whatever tools made it. Three rules matter:

  • Spam. A filter marks mass uploads, duplicates, SEO tricks and very short tracks. Marked tracks are no longer recommended.
  • Impersonation. A cloned or imitated voice is allowed only when that artist has approved it.
  • AI credits. You add them through your distributor, if it supports them. Listeners see them in the song credits on mobile. The feature is in beta.

Since mid-September 2026, Spotify also marks some profiles with an AI Persona badge. It is for artists whose public identity is a photorealistic person made by AI. Music from these profiles is left out of editorial and personalized recommendations, unless the listener follows the artist. The badge does not apply to a person or a stage name that uses AI tools to make music.

The US Copyright Office published its report on AI and copyright on 29 January 2025. Its main points:

  • A work is protected only where a human decided enough of its expression.
  • Prompts alone are not enough.
  • Using AI as an assistant does not block protection. Your own lyrics, melody, playing or changes to the output can be protected.

When you register a work with AI material, the Office asks you to say so. You exclude the AI part and briefly describe what the human wrote. In March 2026 the US Supreme Court declined to hear the Thaler case, so the human-authorship rule stands. Other countries have their own rules.

Suno's help center says the same in plain words: writing the prompt is not creating the song. If you wrote the lyrics, you own the lyrics and can register them.

PROs follow a similar line. In October 2025 ASCAP, BMI and SOCAN agreed to register works that combine AI-generated music with human authorship. Works made entirely with AI tools are not eligible. How to register any library track: Registering library music with your PRO.

YouTube and Content ID

Content ID is for owners of exclusive rights. Non-exclusive licenses do not qualify. So a Suno free-plan song cannot go in: Suno owns it. Suno's terms also say other rights holders may be able to collect revenue from outputs on third-party platforms.

Distributors have their own tests. Amuse, LANDR and RouteNote do not send AI tracks to Content ID. Ditto names Content ID among the services that may refuse fully AI releases. UnitedMasters says AI content can qualify if it meets YouTube's rules. DistroKid's Content ID rule asks that you own 100% of the sounds. Its page does not mention AI. Ask before you opt an AI track in. How Content ID works: YouTube Content ID.

On your own channel, YouTube asks you to disclose AI-generated music that is the main focus of a video. YouTube says disclosure does not limit the audience or the right to earn money.

Keep a record for every AI track

Rules change, and a platform may ask about a track a year later. Write down, for every track:

  1. The tool and model, and the date you made the track.
  2. Your plan on that date, and the date you downloaded the file.
  3. The prompt, as you typed it.
  4. What you made yourself: lyrics, melody, recorded parts, edits, mix.
  5. What you disclosed and where: AI credits, the YouTube setting, a PRO or copyright form.
  6. A copy of the terms that applied, or at least their date.

Disclose wherever a form asks. Then check the rules again before the next release. Keep this record next to the track's other details. See the metadata checklist. If you keep your catalog in a spreadsheet, add an AI column to the free catalog template.

Sources