If you've ever wondered who – or what – made the song you're listening to, this news will be music to your ears. The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) has just deemed music that is 100% AI-generated ineligible for the ARIA charts.
It's a landmark move in a world where the lines between AI and human creativity are increasingly blurry. So how did we get here, and what are the new rules around AI generated music?
AI assistance in music production is still allowed
This is an important distinction. The ruling only applies to music that is made entirely with AI. According to ARIA, a song is only eligible for recognition on the ARIA charts if it "is substantially human made" and "raises no stream or chart manipulation concerns".
ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd acknowledged that AI is already widely used in the music industry. "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 said.
Why is a ruling like this needed?
We've been arguably heading in this direction for a while. In October 2025, the Albanese Government made it illegal for AI algorithms to mine the work of Australian creatives.
The ARIA's ruling takes things one step further, putting clear guidelines in the music industry, and carving out space for human artistry and output in a world increasingly overtaken by AI. As Herd explained, "a chart that rewards unlicensed AI output would undercut the very basis of the recorded music we exist to represent."
She added, "These changes reflect our intent to remain dynamic and promote the human nature of artistry in what is – to say the least – a rapidly developing space."
Many have pointed out that the ruling comes in the wake of the mammoth success of Queensland DJ and producer Josh Fawaz's cover of Madonna's Like a Prayer. The track was the most-played song on Australian radio in July, and even reached number four on two ARIA charts.
But despite its success, the song drew significant criticism from key music industry players who accused Fawaz of using AI. He responded by saying he had used AI "as a tool", and later updated the song's Spotify listing to clarify that the vocals and drums were AI-generated.
Similarly, Spotify has recently made the move to wipe what it deems "AI slop" from the platform. Speaking to ABC, Sam Duboff, Spotify's global head of artists, marketing and policy explained, "Slop, spam, low-effort content, no-one wants that polluting their experience on Spotify or any streaming service."
He added, "we tag all those tracks. We remove them completely from recommendations."
Apple Music acted similarly in March, introducing a system called 'Transparency Tags', which are applied when a "material portion" of the audio track has been created using AI or features AI-generated content.
Feature image via Instagram.
