If you are a musician in Australia and you take help of AI-generated music to recreate new pieces, then hold on, because AI-generated music will be excluded from the country's music charts starting this week, as shared by the peak music trade group in Australia. The decision was made after the controversy over an Australian DJ's cover of Madonna's Like a Prayer which topped 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.
But how to distinguish between AI-generated recordings and AI-assisted ones? ARIA said it would apply definitions from a labelling standard announced by the global music community in July.
Major global record labels have been seeking new licensing arrangements to protect their vast catalogues as AI-generated music have been growing in popularity and consumers are increasingly struggling to distinguish it from human-composed songs.
ARIA compiles Australia's most popular songs and albums in the ARIA Charts, which are released on Apple Music and Spotify every Friday.
In July, Queensland-based DJ Josh Fawaz's cover of Madonna's 1989 hit Like a Prayer became the most-played song on Australian radio and reached No. 4 on two ARIA charts. However, some producers alleged that generative AI had been used in the track and that it was not initially disclosed.
Responding to a music producer's criticism on Instagram in June, Fawaz said that although he used AI "as a tool, it's not that deep", adding he had been releasing music long before AI and his focus was to provide his listeners "good music".
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