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Australia's music industry bans
AI-generated tracks from official charts
[August 25, 2026]
By ROD McGUIRK
MELBOURNE,
Australia (AP) — Australia’s recorded music industry will bar tracks
wholly generated by artificial intelligence from official charts as
burgeoning generative technologies threaten artists’ livelihoods, a
representative said on Tuesday.
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Madonna poses before the Saint Laurent Spring/Summer 2026 collection
presented in Paris, on Sept. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard,
File) |
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The
crackdown comes as a variation of Madonna’s pop hit “Like a
Prayer” created by an Australian producer using AI-generated
vocals and drums has spent 16 weeks in the Australian top 20,
stoking debate about generative AI’s place in music. It peaked
at number two on the Australian Record Industry Association’s
top 20 Australian singles chart in May and remained in fourth
place on Tuesday.
Wholly AI-generated tracks will be banned from the ARIA charts
from Monday next week, but some AI-assisted music will remain
eligible, an ARIA statement said.
Tracks can be eligible only if “humans wrote the song and
performed the lead vocal and the primary instruments,” among
other requirements, the statement said.
AI-generated music would also be ineligible for the Australian
industry’s prestigious ARIA awards.
ARIA chief executive Annabelle Herd said: “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.”
“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 added.
Eligible music must also be produced using legal AI services.
Music was appearing on streaming services that had apparently
been developed with AI tools trained on artists’ music without
authorization.
The Australian rules are in step with new principles released in
July by the London-based International Federation of the
Phonographic Industry. The federation represents the recording
industry worldwide.
The international guidelines state that to qualify for official
music charts, a track must be “substantially human made.”
Sydney Conservatorium of Music composer and lecturer Alexis
Weaver told Australian Broadcasting Corp. the debate around AI
in music was “exceptionally fraught and very emotional for a lot
of musicians and so everyone will have a different opinion.”
Weaver applauded ARIA’s move as a “wonderful step forward” that
sent a message ARIA wanted to “prioritize and value human
creativity.”
“It can be quite hard to avoid AI tools in the current
landscape,” Weaver said. “There is a way to use it while you’re
still steering the ship and making the main creative choices.”
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