Tencent Music Entertainment has removed more than 250,000 songs from its platforms over the past year as part of a major effort to combat copyright violations, AI-related risks, and sophisticated forms of digital music fraud. The company's 2025 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report, released in April, reveals the scale of the challenge facing streaming platforms as artificial intelligence-generated music becomes easier to create and harder to detect.

The takedowns represent a significant enforcement effort, but they're just the visible part of a much larger operation. Tencent Music reviewed more than 600,000 cases involving what it describes as "high-risk copyright content" during the same period. The material was identified through a combination of AI-based detection systems and manual review, flagged as either violating platform policies or posing "reputational risks".

What Are "Song Theft," "Song Laundering," and "Trend Hijacking"?

Beyond traditional copyright violations, Tencent Music is confronting a new category of digital music manipulation. The company removed an additional 27,000 songs related to practices it categorizes as increasingly sophisticated forms of ecosystem abuse. These practices undermine creators' rights and mislead users through speculative tactics.

• Song Theft: The alteration of rights ownership information to falsely claim authorship or control of existing works.
• Song Laundering: Plagiarism or modification of existing compositions to obscure their original source and bypass detection systems.
• Trend Hijacking: Content designed to exploit platform algorithms for commercial gain, artificially inflating visibility and revenue without legitimate creative merit.

According to Tencent Music, these practices "undermine the legitimate rights of original creators, negatively affect their income and creative motivation, and mislead users through speculative practices, ultimately disrupting industry order". The company estimates that 27,000 songs fell into these categories during the reporting period, suggesting that bad actors are becoming more creative in how they game the system.

How Is Tencent Music Detecting AI-Generated Music and Fraud?

To identify problematic content, Tencent Music has deployed a range of detection tools that go far beyond simple keyword matching. The company uses audio fingerprinting, voiceprint recognition, melody comparison, and text similarity analysis to monitor its entire catalog. These technologies work together to catch both human-created fraud and AI-generated material that violates platform rules.

• Audio Fingerprinting: Creates a unique digital signature of each song, allowing the platform to identify duplicate or modified versions even when metadata has been altered.
• Voiceprint Recognition: Analyzes vocal characteristics to detect when the same voice has been used across multiple supposedly different artists or songs.
• Melody Comparison: Compares melodic patterns across the catalog to identify plagiarism or unauthorized remixes that haven't been properly licensed.
• Text Similarity Analysis: Examines lyrics and metadata to catch songs with suspiciously similar or copied content.
• AI Content Labeling: Uses audio modelling systems to identify and label AI-generated material, applying governance measures based on internal rules.

In 2025, Tencent Music introduced an updated governance framework, including version 2.0 of its Code of Conduct for Inappropriate Content Management. The framework introduces tiered enforcement mechanisms with scoring systems and graduated responses, meaning that violations are addressed proportionally rather than with a one-size-fits-all approach.

What Happens to Music Labels That Don't Comply?

Tencent Music has also created a "health rating" system for music labels, designed to assess ongoing compliance with platform standards. Labels that fail to meet required standards may face sanctions ranging from warnings and corrective measures to suspension or termination of agreements. This approach shifts responsibility upstream, incentivizing labels to police their own catalogs before content reaches the platform.

The company has also established a "regular content security assessment and detection mechanism" specifically for AI-generated works. On AI model training, Tencent Music stated it follows "legally compliant licensing" practices and only uses content after obtaining permission from rights holders. This is a critical distinction, as it suggests the company is not training its own generative AI models on unlicensed music.

Tencent Music

How Is the Industry Responding to AI Music Copyright Challenges?

Tencent Music's enforcement efforts are part of a broader industry reckoning with AI-generated music. The company continues to face legal challenges, with 160 ongoing copyright-related lawsuits at the end of 2025, with claims totaling approximately 187.1 million Chinese yuan, or about $26.8 million USD. Despite these cases, the company said it does not expect them to have a material impact on its operations.

To strengthen its position, Tencent Music entered into a strategic copyright cooperation agreement with the Music Copyright Society of China, aimed at improving licensing systems and enforcement mechanisms for lyrics and compositions. The company also participates in industry and policy bodies focused on AI copyright standards and digital music regulation.

The company's copyright protection practices have been presented at international forums, including the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) General Assembly, as examples of governance in the digital music sector. Tencent Music has also contributed to industry standards on AI content labeling and audio technology, including guidelines for metadata tagging of AI-generated audio and standards for high-quality and spatial audio playback systems.

As AI music generation tools like Udio and Suno become more accessible to creators worldwide, the challenge of distinguishing legitimate AI-assisted music from fraudulent or copyright-infringing content will only grow. Tencent Music's approach, combining automated detection with human review and industry collaboration, offers a glimpse into how platforms may need to evolve to protect both creators and listeners in an AI-driven music ecosystem.