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<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 25 Aug 202625 Aug 2026<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s official music charts have banned tracks mostly created by artificial intelligence (AI) following a backlash over a cover of Madonna\u2019s \u201cLike a Prayer\u201d that relied heavily on the burgeoning technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cWholly AI-generated\u201d music will be excluded from the charts under the changes, while tracks that use AI in a \u201csupporting role\u201d will still be eligible, the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
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AI-generated music will also not be considered for recognition at the annual ARIA Music Awards under the new rules, which are set to take effect on Friday.<\/p>\n
ARIA said it would rely on a labelling system introduced by music industry groups last month to distinguish AI-generated tracks from those that use AI to complement human creativity.<\/p>\n
Under the labelling rules announced by a coalition of organisations including the Recording Industry Association of America, tracks may be labelled \u201cAI-Generated\u201d or \u201cAI-Assisted\u201d depending on the level of human involvement in the writing and recording process.<\/p>\n
Tracks are classed as \u201cAI-Generated\u201d if AI was used to create the \u201centirety or the primary portion of the creative elements of the recording\u201d and \u201cAI-Assisted\u201d if the technology was used only for \u201csome expressive elements\u201d.<\/p>\n
ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd said while the music charts should evolve to reflect the legitimate use of AI, they should not recognise music generated \u201cwholesale\u201d by technology that relies on other artists\u2019 work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese changes reflect our intent to remain dynamic and promote the human nature of artistry in what is \u2013 to say the least \u2013 a rapidly developing space,\u201d Herd said in a statement.<\/p>\n
ARIA, whose members include major music labels such as Sony Music Entertainment Australia and Universal Music Australia, publishes more than two dozen weekly music charts in Australia, including the top 50 singles and top 50 albums.<\/p>\n
![\"Madonna](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/madonna-1787634147.jpeg\")
Madonna performs during a surprise concert in Times Square, in New York, US, on June 4, 2026 [Brendan McDermid\/Reuters]<\/p>\n
The industry association\u2019s decision comes after a Brisbane-based DJ\u2019s chart-topping cover of Madonna\u2019s 1989 hit Like a Prayer attracted a backlash over its use of AI-generated vocals and drums.<\/p>\n
Josh Fawaz last month belatedly acknowledged using AI on the track after music fans and producers raised suspicions that it was not produced by a human.<\/p>\n
The cover has racked up more than 48.5 million listens on music streaming platform Spotify and currently ranks number one on the ARIA Top 20 Australian Dance Singles Chart.<\/p>\n
Fawaz, who has defended the use of AI as a \u201ctool\u201d in his music, described ARIA\u2019s new rules as a \u201cgreat move\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand that AI in music isn\u2019t for everyone and that\u2019s fine. Good to see Aussie artists killing it globally!!\u201d Fawaz wrote in a social media post responding to the announcement.<\/p>\n
Oliver Bown, an associate professor at the University of New South Wales who researches the relationship between technology and art, said the impact of AI on creative industries such as music demands urgent attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany large commercial AI music generation companies have assumed they can scrape training data without permission, and so are potentially predatory on artists,\u201d Bown told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe people can do great artistic work using AI respectfully, but there is also a predatory phenomenon whereby you can just go fishing for plays and profits,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany organisations have developed rules about AI use and an increasing number see the need to ban full-AI works. I think this is the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ivan Zavada, a senior lecturer in composition and music technology at the University of Sydney, said the changes have been widely viewed as a \u201cnecessary step\u201d to protect \u201cgenuine human musical creativity and performance\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore work needs to be done on the legal and intellectual property fronts to enable more trust and clarity in these tools,\u201d Zavada told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI will be an essential part of standard music production in the very near future. We are living a very exciting yet concerning transition period in the digital and electronic arts.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tracks that use AI in a \u2018supporting role\u2019 will still be eligible for inclusion in the official charts.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,9477,9087,980,3146,134],"class_list":["post-150282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-asia-pacific","tag-australia","tag-economy","tag-music","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}