Australia’s official music charts will no longer count songs made wholly by artificial intelligence. The Australian Recording Industry Association said on Tuesday that wholly AI-generated tracks will not be eligible for the ARIA Charts, starting with the charts released this Friday, ABC News reported. Recordings that use AI in a supporting role remain eligible.
ARIA updated its Charts Code of Practice to exclude music that used generative AI unless it is “substantially human-made” and “raises no stream or chart manipulation concerns.” The code lets ARIA remove ineligible recordings, change chart positions and revoke chart awards, and artists and their representatives can contest an exclusion.
The Track That Forced the Issue
The rule follows months of debate over Queensland producer Josh Fawaz’s version of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer,” which became the most-played song on Australian radio. Fawaz said he used AI “as a tool” and later updated the Spotify listing to say the vocals and drums were AI-generated, according to ABC. Fortune reported that the track spent 16 weeks in the Australian top 20, peaked at No. 2 on ARIA’s top 20 Australian singles chart in May and was still fourth on Tuesday.
An ARIA spokesperson told ABC that the global industry rules ARIA is adopting would likely disqualify music with AI-generated lead vocals or key instrumentals, which suggests the Fawaz track may not qualify under the new code.
ARIA chief executive Annabelle Herd said in a statement quoted by Fortune: “These changes reflect our intent to remain dynamic and promote the human nature of artistry in what is — to say the least — a rapidly developing space.” She added, “The ARIA Charts will always remain a transparent measurement of the music Australia consumes, but a chart that rewards unlicensed AI output would undercut the very basis of the recorded music we exist to represent.”
Herd also asked broadcasters to follow. “We call on all parties who have a role in deciding the music played and promoted to Australian audiences, particularly radio, to support human artistry and implement similar changes across their own codes,” she said.
Part of a Global Shift
ARIA’s code follows principles the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry published in July. The IFPI said more than 20 official chart programs were adopting rules to separate human-created recordings from wholly AI-generated material, and it cited concern about AI models trained on artists’ music without permission from rights holders.
Streaming services are taking a different route. Spotify has pledged to label AI personas and keep them out of recommendations by default, but that label covers the identity behind an artist profile rather than whether AI was used on a given recording, ABC noted.
For producers, the practical line is clear enough to work with. AI can still help with production, as long as people write the songs and perform the parts that matter. Enforcement will depend on ARIA’s review process and on how candidly artists disclose their tools, and detection remains harder than generation.
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