Samro, the Southern African Music Rights Organisation, now requires members to disclose how much AI went into a song when they register it with the body. But it sets no minimum level of human contribution, and disclosure “does not, in itself, constitute a determination of copyright eligibility or an entitlement to royalties”, it told TechCentral.
The rule is part of Samro’s response to an April member survey, in which 89.2% of 502 respondents said it should push for an AI protection law. Samro is assessing whether to develop a more comprehensive policy, but “no definitive implementation timeline has been confirmed”.
The SABC is also feeling its way. In June, head of communications Mmoni Ngubane told Sowetan that the public broadcaster’s stations “avoid airing fully AI-generated works until clear legal frameworks are established”. Asked by TechCentral whether that extends to AI-assisted music, Ngubane said the position reflects the SABC’s “current editorial approach” and “is not a finalised organisational policy”.
“The line between AI-generated and AI-assisted work is one the whole industry is still working through. Until that work is complete, we are not in a position to set out firm rules on AI-assisted music,” she said.
Test case in Alberton
Justin Erasmus, an Alberton producer who founded AlgoRythm Hybrid Music Production in 2023, makes AI-assisted music under the name Prismatic Wave, a “hybrid artist” identity he created. In his pitch to TechCentral, he described his output as “registered, legitimate music, not a novelty”.
Pressed on that, he said he obtained membership of Samro and Sampra, the South African Music Performance Rights Association, by presenting his production process and explaining “the substantial human intervention involved in my process”. He has registered only one song so far. “Membership approval and registration of individual works are separate matters, and I don’t want to imply that every track has been registered or approved,” he said.
Samro said it does not comment on individual members’ status but that, as a general principle, membership “does not, in itself, constitute confirmation of the copyright status of any particular work or approval of a specific music creation process”.
Erasmus submitted one song to 5FM’s playlist managers in December 2025 and has had no response. Ngubane said SABC music selection committees judge submissions using information such as songwriting and production credits, which she called “editorial judgement, not a scientific test”. A decision not to playlist a song “should not be read as being related to AI”, she said, and the SABC is “happy to engage with Mr Erasmus directly on the status of his submission”.
The ‘first’ AI album
Erasmus also claims to have released South Africa’s first AI album. Both Spotify and Apple Music date his 12-track hip-hop album, Echo Of The Streets, to 11 February 2025.
That is more than seven months before Gift Lubele’s South Africa’s first AI Amapiano Album, which Spotify dates to 30 September 2025. But Lubele’s record was billed as the first AI album in a specific genre: IOL reported in October 2025 that he had made history with the country’s “first AI-generated amapiano album”.
Erasmus started experimenting with AI music generators in early 2024, when “the output was average at best”. A central tool in his workflow is Suno, and more recently its Suno Studio workstation.
He sets out his method in a six-page white paper, self-published on Academia.edu. He writes the raw lyrics himself and uses AI to analyse their structure, rhyme and syllables, after which “Erasmus then rewrites everything”. A single song typically needs eight to 15 distinct instrumental versions, the paper says, and complex tracks 20 or more.
“You need to understand musical instruments, their characteristics and how they work together to achieve the right beat, arrangement and sound. You cannot rely on a generic prompt to replace that understanding,” he said.
Music made “with a click of a button or with a simple prompt” is slop, he said, and AI-only songs “will never have emotions. It’s impossible. It’s a machine.” Yet his own output is prodigious: he says he released 11 albums, five EPs and 20 singles in 13 months. Most tracks take 45 minutes to an hour once he knows the creative direction, he said, although some have taken days.
On ownership, Erasmus said Suno’s paid plans grant commercial-use rights for eligible outputs, “but commercial permission doesn’t automatically guarantee copyright protection”.
That protection is contested. The three major record labels sued Suno in 2024. Warner Music Group settled in November 2025 and signed a licensing deal, and in September Suno introduced v6 models developed with Warner, BMG and Believe. On 18 September, Universal and Sony sued Suno again, alleging that v6 is “the fruit of the same poisoned tree”. Suno called the suit “fundamentally flawed on both the facts and the law”.
An AI flood
Streaming platforms are grappling with a surge of AI music. Deezer said in July that fully AI-generated tracks exceeded 50% of daily uploads at their June peak, nearly 90 000 a day, yet drew only 1-3% of streams. Australia’s charts now bar music made entirely by AI.
Locally, Rea Gopane’s AI-made amapiano track Suka!, released in December 2025, had reached number 10 on Apple Music South Africa by late January, Scrolla reported, with some listeners finding it “too mechanical, especially the vocals”. The Sunday Times later reported that it had reached number one on Apple Music South Africa’s top 100.
Erasmus said listeners “deserve transparency” and that disclosure should explain “whether that involves vocals, instrumentation, lyrics or other production elements”. The Apple Music page for Echo Of The Streets does not mention AI.
Asked whether AI music can be art, he said: “The tool doesn’t automatically make something art, but neither does it disqualify it.” – © 2026 NewsCentral Media
