Australia Bans AI-Generated Music from Charts
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) announced that music created entirely or primarily by generative AI will no longer be eligible for official charts and ARIA Music Awards; the new rules will apply to ARIA charts starting this Friday.
Not all music using AI is excluded. To qualify, works must be "primarily created by humans" and sung by human vocalists or played by human musicians; music can still enter the charts if AI is used as a supplementary tool.
ARIA considers AI-generated vocals or primary instruments as typical cases that do not meet the "primarily created by humans" criterion. The association can remove ineligible works, adjust chart rankings, and revoke chart certifications; artists and their representatives can contest the determinations and submit evidence of human creation.
The new rules also apply to the ARIA Music Awards. Works must use legal AI services and comply with copyright and related rights laws; ARIA stated that this restriction addresses copyright and revenue concerns arising from some AI music tools potentially using artists' works without authorization for training.
One of the direct triggers for the policy was a version of "Like a Prayer" adapted by Brisbane DJ and producer Josh Fawaz. This version, which used AI-generated vocals and drums, had entered the ARIA Australian Singles Chart top 20 for 16 consecutive weeks; ARIA confirmed that, according to information provided by the artist, the work does not meet the new eligibility criteria.
ARIA's new standards align with the principles released by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in July this year: music entering official charts should be "primarily produced by humans." Australia has not banned AI music from being released or listened to on streaming platforms, but has set the official charts, certifications, and awards as thresholds for human-created eligibility.
In market mechanisms, official charts determine media exposure, industry recognition, performance negotiations, brand collaborations, and record company resource allocation. The ban will cause purely AI music to lose high-value mainstream certification channels, with resources shifting towards artists, record companies, and authorized AI tools that can prove human-led creation, copyright chains, and production process records; music projects relying on synthetic vocals, imitating famous singers' voices, or opaque training data will face higher distribution and compliance risks.
Source: Public Information