IFPI, the body that represents the recorded-music industry worldwide, has begun rolling out a set of AI chart-eligibility principles across its global network of official music charts, setting the first coordinated rules for when a recording made with artificial intelligence can qualify for chart placement.

The framework took its first concrete shape on 29 July 2025, when a coalition of labels proposed the principles. The group included the three majors — Sony Music, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group — alongside independents Believe, BMG, Concord, Dirty Hit, Glassnote Records, HYBE Corp., Mom+Pop Music and Partisan Records. IFPI, formally the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, then began applying the rules across its directly managed charts on 30 July 2026, according to Music Business Worldwide.

The rollout has already reached the Official MENA Charts, the Official Southeast Asia Charts, the Official South Africa Chart and several Latin American charts. IFPI directly manages official music charts in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay, Billboard reports.

The organisation is now working with its national group network to extend the program to more than 20 additional chart systems. The expansion list includes Australia's ARIA Charts, France's SNEP Charts, Germany's Offizielle Deutsche Charts and South Korea's Circle Chart. Spain's Promusicae Charts, which sits outside IFPI's direct management, is also lined up for adoption.

Under the guidelines, a recording made with AI qualifies for a chart only if three conditions are met. The AI service used must be properly authorised and lawful. The track must be substantially human-made. And it must not raise stream or chart manipulation concerns — the latter referring to artificial inflation of play counts, a form of streaming fraud that chart compilers have been fighting for years.

The rules also require recordings to respect copyright, related rights and personality rights — the legal protections around an individual's voice, image and likeness. The AI service's own terms of service must be complied with. And the recording must be flagged to listeners on streaming platforms under agreed labelling standards, so that people know when a track has been made with AI.

IFPI's CEO is Victoria Oakley, according to Billboard.

For fans, the practical effect is straightforward: a song that leans on AI can still chart, but only if a human drove the creative process, the tools were licensed properly, and the result is labelled honestly. For the industry, the principles draw a line between assisted creation and automated output — and they do so on the charts that labels, artists and investors watch most closely.

The guidelines arrive as AI-generated music has flooded streaming platforms, raising questions about copyright, attribution and whether machine-made tracks should compete alongside human recordings for chart positions. IFPI's answer is yes, with conditions — and those conditions are now spreading across the charts it oversees.