Photo Credit: Wylly Suhendra
A coalition of major record labels and leading independents outline framework to ban unlicensed AI music from the official chart rankings worldwide.
A global coalition of leading music companies—including Believe, BMG, Concord, Dirty Hit, Glassnote Records, HYBE Corp., Mom+Pop Music, Partisan Records, Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group—has issued a joint proposal establishing unified principles to govern the eligibility of recordings developed using generative artificial intelligence for inclusion in official music charts worldwide.
The proposed framework sent to Digital Music News is intended to provide a unified roadmap for official chat compilers, industry bodies, and affiliated stakeholders across the globe. By defining clear boundaries for chart consideration, the coalition aims to safeguard human artistry while accommodating the legitimate, ethical use of emerging creative technologies.
The announcement says the framework would “establish a clear boundary between human-led creativity and works that are purely synthetic or generated by unauthorized AI models” and “will also help to ensure that any tracks with a fraudulently boosted stream count are not recognized and celebrated in the charts.” The coalition also noted that “these principles would enable official charts to accommodate appropriate use of AI in the creative process whilst remaining an authentic celebration of human artistry.”
Under the proposed framework, recordings developed using generative AI services must not be included in official charts where there is reason to believe that they fail to meet any of the following criteria:
- Authorized Infrastructure: Any generative AI services used to develop the recording are properly authorized and lawful.
- Human-Led Artistry: The recording is substantially human-made.
- Chart Integrity: The recording does not raise stream or chart manipulation concerns.
- Legal Compliance: The recording complies with all applicable laws, including those relating to copyright, related rights, and personality rights.
- Terms of Service Compliance: The making available of the recording does not breach the terms of service of the generative AI platform utilized.
- Consumer Transparency: The use of generative AI services to develop the recording is appropriately signaled to consumers on downstream services (digital streaming platforms), in accordance with applicable legislation and industry labeling standards.
The announcement builds upon recent efforts by the broader industry and its trade groups, including the IFPI, RIAA, A2IM, WIN, IMPALA, The Recording Academy, SAG-AFTRA, and the Human Artistry Campaign—which proposed standardized tagging systems to identify AI-generated and AI-assisted content on digital streaming platforms. Under the record companies’ proposal, fully synthetic works categorized as “AI-generated” would be explicitly excluded from official music charts.
Together, the coalition members say they stand ready to engage with charts, trade organizations, and industry bodies globally to discuss implementation and support the rollout of these safeguards for human creators.