Australia Bans AI-Made Songs From Charts
ARIA has changed its charts code: songs made entirely by artificial intelligence can no longer make the list, prompted by a disputed AI remix of Madonna's Like a Prayer.
In July, an AI-assisted remix of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” became the most-played track on Australian radio and climbed to number four on two ARIA charts. Behind the reworked vocals and drums, it later emerged, was artificial intelligence, and that very case pushed the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) to rewrite the rules it uses to compile its charts.
ARIA has amended its Chart Code to strip out recordings made entirely by generative artificial intelligence. To qualify for a chart, a song must now be, as the code puts it, “substantially a human work,” and must not raise doubts about manipulated streams or positions. Recordings where artificial intelligence plays only a supporting role can still chart, provided the use is lawful.
Sources differ on exactly when the rule takes effect. Rolling Stone Australia reports that the change applies from the chart dated August 31, published on August 28. ABC and SBS, on the other hand, say only that the new rules apply “from Friday,” without naming a specific chart date.
What ARIA Can Now Do
The new code hands ARIA several powers it did not previously have:
- reject a recording and keep it out of the chart survey
- remove it from a chart, including retroactively
- shift the positions of other songs on the chart
- withdraw certifications already awarded
- strip a number-one award
A song that fails the check is also barred from competing for ARIA Awards. Artists and their representatives can dispute a ruling and submit evidence that a recording is, after all, a human work, through a process ARIA has also expanded.
ARIA chief executive Anabel Herd explained why the change came now.
“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.”
She added that the new rules give everyone releasing music in Australia a clear standard to work to: “This gives everyone who releases music in Australia a clear rule to work to.”
Who Triggered the Change
The trigger was a track by Queensland producer and DJ Josh Fawaz, an electronic remix of Madonna’s 1989 song. Sources differ on the details here too. ABC reports that the track was the most-played on Australian radio in July and reached number four on two ARIA charts. SBS writes that it was number two in May and is now fourth on the Australian singles chart. Rolling Stone Australia adds that the track had racked up more than 38 million streams on Spotify, a figure that does not appear in SBS’s reporting.
Fawaz initially said he had used artificial intelligence “as a tool,” without elaborating. Only after an ABC investigation did he update the track’s details on Spotify to state that the vocals and drums had been generated by artificial intelligence.
ARIA’s decision follows guidelines issued by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in July 2026, already adopted by more than 20 charts worldwide. The IFPI warns that artificial intelligence models are trained on artists’ recordings without rights holders’ permission.
Spotify has taken a different route, introducing a label for AI musical “personas” that appears only on an artist’s profile, not on individual tracks. Listeners therefore still cannot tell whether the specific song they are playing was made with artificial intelligence.
We covered this topic before, when Apple Music announced it would label songs made with artificial intelligence. ARIA is now going a step further than labeling alone: such a song can no longer even make the chart, let alone win an award.
