Australia Bars Fully AI-Made Songs From Charts
Australia Bars Fully AI-Made Songs From Charts
The News
Australia's official music charts have banned songs that are largely or wholly generated by artificial intelligence, making the Australian Recording Industry Association the first national chart body to write AI eligibility rules, Billboard reported.
To qualify, a recording must be "substantially human made" and raise "no stream or chart manipulation concerns," ARIA said.
AI can still be used in a supporting role. Under the new code, humans must have written the song and performed the lead vocal and primary instruments, the BBC reported, while AI remains acceptable for mastering and for tools like drum machines and auto-tune.
The BBC reported the rules apply from this week; Billboard reported the changes take effect from the chart dated Monday, Aug. 31.
What the rules do
Artists must declare AI use when they submit a song for chart consideration.
If it later emerges that a track was largely AI-generated, ARIA said it can decline to survey the recording, remove it from the charts, adjust chart positions, withdraw accreditations and revoke an ARIA No. 1 Award — and ineligible tracks are also barred from the ARIA Awards, according to Billboard. The BBC reported ARIA may request that awards given for reaching No. 1 be returned.
Artists and their representatives can contest an exclusion through an updated disputes process.
Timeline
The AI country act Breaking Rust reached No. 1 on Billboard's Country Digital Song Sales chart, Billboard reported.
A song was banned from Sweden's music charts because it was created by AI, according to the BBC.
The AI act IngaRose topped iTunes charts in the U.S. and globally. Billboard reported neither that case nor Breaking Rust involved detected streaming fraud; both drew on real purchases or organic interest on narrower charts.
The global music industry's AI labelling standard was announced on July 10, Billboard reported, distinguishing AI-generated recordings from AI-assisted ones. The BBC reported the IFPI said in July that AI guidelines would be rolled out in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia for use in their official charts.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised "the strongest possible protection" from AI for Australian creatives, pledging that writers and musicians could choose if and how their work was used in AI training and saying it would be "theft" if they lost that control and were not paid.
Australian DJ Josh Fawaz's cover of Madonna's "Like A Prayer" topped the ARIA dance singles chart and peaked at No. 2 on the overall chart. The BBC reported the song became a staple of commercial radio playlists and has been streamed more than 48 million times on Spotify alone. Fawaz later added generative AI credits to the song after a backlash.
ARIA publishes the updated code.
Reactions
"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," ARIA chief executive Annabelle Herd said.
"Artists already use AI tools in their work, the charts can and should evolve to keep room for that, but music generated wholesale by services built on artists' recordings is a different matter," Herd said. She added that "a chart that rewards unlicensed AI output would undercut the very basis of the recorded music we exist to represent," and urged other decision-makers, "particularly radio," to adopt similar codes.
ARIA said Australian artists are competing for attention "in the most crowded market in history" and that it is "not interested in promoting or celebrating the success of AI-generated music that does not contain human artistry."
Among the artists backing the move is the Australian electronic act Peking Duk. Last month the duo shared an AI-assisted version of their 2014 hit "High" on Instagram, captioned: "When you re-record your own song with AI so Australian radio will play it." Band member Adam Hyde told Channel Nine's Today show that AI-generated music was "removing the human experience from life."
What's Next
ARIA said it will keep the code under review as AI policy and technology develop.
Billboard reported the move implements global principles set by the IFPI and the major labels earlier this year, with ARIA the first national chart body to adopt them with a firm date. Herd has publicly called on others — radio in particular — to follow.
Billboard reported that the Breaking Rust and IngaRose chart runs focused industry attention on the absence of any chart rules governing AI.
More
The dividing line ARIA drew is between AI as a tool and AI as the author. Songs made with human writing, human lead vocals and human primary instruments stay eligible even if machines touch the mix; songs generated wholesale by services built on artists' recordings do not.
Deutsche Welle summarized the policy the same way: the ARIA chart is drawing a line between artists who use AI as a tool and songs created largely by machines.
Poll idea: Should U.S. charts bar fully AI-generated songs?
Charleston White Arrested Again on Florida Battery Charge
Border Patrol Rescues MS NOW Crew in Desert
Sep 13, 2026
Supreme Court Restores Missouri's Old House Map
Sep 13, 2026
Alaska Drops Felony Voter Charges Against Samoans
Sep 13, 2026
Trespasser Breaches Harris' Malibu Estate; No Arrest
Sep 12, 2026
Hegseth Pressed Downed Airmen Into 60 Minutes
Sep 12, 2026
Houthis Seize Mokha, Choking Saudi Oil Exports
Sep 12, 2026
Altman Rules Out OpenAI IPO This Year
Sep 12, 2026
Jury Acquits Lil Durk in Murder-for-Hire Case
Sep 12, 2026
Judge: Trump Broke Law Halving FEMA Staff
Sep 12, 2026
Maher Calls Democrats' Gaza Genocide Claim a Lie
Sep 12, 2026
Blizzard Revives StarCraft, Sends Diablo to Netflix
Sep 12, 2026
Trump's Queens Childhood Home Sells for $1.93M
Sep 12, 2026
Scientists Find New Virus in Tick Invading US
Sep 12, 2026
Britain Bans Settlement Imports; US States Threaten Payback
Sep 12, 2026
Prison Fire Kills 7 as Kurds Protest Killing
Sep 12, 2026
Kosovo Rallies for Ex-President Before Hague Verdict
Sep 12, 2026
Cruz Booed at GameDay Over College Sports Bill
Sep 12, 2026
Blast Hits Bulgarian Arms Plant Supplying Ukraine
Sep 12, 2026
DOJ Loses Nearly Every Protester Assault Trial
Sep 12, 2026
Sep 13, 2026