Image credit: BBC News coverage of ARIA chart AI eligibility rules.
Australia’s official music charts will no longer list recordings that are wholly or primarily generated by artificial intelligence. The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) has updated its Charts Code of Practice so entries must be “substantially human made,” with the new rules applying from the chart dated Monday, Aug. 31, 2026.
Under the revised code, AI can still appear in a supporting role — for example in mastering, drum programming, or other production tools — as long as humans wrote the song and performed the lead vocal and primary instruments. Tracks that use generative AI for the core creative elements, including AI lead vocals or key instrumental performances, are ineligible.
ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd said the change is meant to keep room for artists who already use AI tools while refusing to celebrate wholesale AI output built on artists’ recordings. Submitters must now declare AI use, and ARIA can exclude titles, adjust positions after the fact, withdraw accreditations, or seek the return of a No. 1 award if a recording is later found ineligible. Artists can dispute an exclusion through an updated appeals path.
The policy follows IFPI’s global chart principles and mirrors a similar ban in Sweden earlier this year. It also arrives after controversy around Josh Fawaz’s AI-assisted cover of Madonna’s “Like a Prayer,” which dominated Australian radio and climbed high on ARIA rankings before generative AI credits were added amid backlash.
Herd urged radio and other gatekeepers to adopt comparable standards, arguing a chart that rewards unlicensed AI output would undercut the recorded-music business ARIA exists to represent.