Photo Credit: Johnny Bhalla
Fully or mostly AI-generated songs will be excluded from Australia’s official music charts starting this Friday, according to the Australian Recording Industry Association.
Australia will exclude songs created wholly or mostly by artificial intelligence from the country’s official music charts beginning this Friday, according to new rules established by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Notably, AI-assisted recordings can still chart if they are “substantially human-made.”
The ARIA runs the charts of the most popular music in Australia and has updated its Charts Code of Practice to be closer in line with principles established by the global recording industry. The updated code explicitly excludes music that has used generative AI unless it is “substantially human-made” and “raises no stream or chart manipulation concerns.”
Under the new code, the ARIA may remove ineligible recordings, alter chart positions, and revoke chart awards, though artists and their representatives can contest exclusions they feel were made in error. These changes will apply to the charts released this Friday, August 28.
According to ARIA chief executive Annabelle Herd, despite artists already using AI-assistance tools, music generated whole cloth by AI services built on artists’ recordings was a separate issue entirely.
“This gives everyone who releases music in Australia a clear rule to work to,” Herd said.
It’s a move that follows the scrutiny surrounding Queensland DJ and producer Josh Fawaz’s cover of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer,” which quickly became the most-played song on Australian radio and reached #4 on two ARIA charts last month. But the track faced criticism from industry figures who believed generative AI had been used. Fawaz admitted to using AI “as a tool” but later updated the track listing on Spotify to clarify that the vocals and drums were AI-generated.
Much of ARIA’s changes derive from those laid out by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in July. At the time, IFPI said that 20-plus official chart programs were adopting rules intended to better distinguish human-created recordings from those wholly generated by AI.
According to an ARIA spokesperson, the IFPI rules would likely disqualify music with lead vocals or key instrumentals generated by AI, which suggests that Fawaz’s song may no longer be eligible to chart.
The move comes amid the broader worldwide dispute between creatives and AI companies, as many of these companies trained their AI models using copyrighted material without the artists’ permission, claiming fair use. The Australian government said it’s currently working on new rules for AI and data centers that would include “strong copyright protections” for Australian creators.
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