AI-generated music barred from Australian charts after Madonna cover controversy

AI-generated music will be excluded from Australia's music charts starting this week, the country's peak music trade group said, following controversy over an Australian DJ's cover of Madonna's "Like a Prayer" topping local music charts.



The Australian Recording Industry Association, or ARIA, said on Tuesday that wholly AI-generated tracks would no longer be eligible for its popular ARIA Charts, although recordings that use generative AI in a supporting role would remain eligible.



A recording developed using generative AI will be eligible only if it is "substantially human made" and raises no concerns around streaming or chart manipulation, ARIA said. Major global record labels have been seeking new licensing arrangements to protect their vast catalogues as AI-generated music grows in popularity and consumers increasingly struggle to distinguish it from human-composed songs.



"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," ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd said.