---
type: "post"
id: "and-dj-and-producer-josh-fawaz-saw-an-37b3c3"
slug: "and-dj-and-producer-josh-fawaz-saw-an-37b3c3"
title: "And DJ and producer Josh Fawaz saw an AI cover of Madonna's \"Like a Prayer\" amass millions of streams and top the charts, though he has faced intense backlash for openly embracing Suno."
description: "Australian DJ and producer Josh Fawaz has added credits for generative-AI vocals and AI drums to his cover of Madonna's “Like a Prayer” on Spotify, Rolling Stone Australia reported on July 17, 2026."
retrieval_nugget: "Australian DJ and producer Josh Fawaz has added credits for generative-AI vocals and AI drums to his cover of Madonna's “Like a Prayer” on Spotify, Rolling Stone Australia reported on July 17, 2026."
published_at: "2026-10-23"
updated_at: "2026-10-23"
record_date: "2026-10-23"
date_kind: "published_at"
topics: ["generative-media","multimodal"]
entities: ["Josh Fawaz","Spotify","Like a Prayer","Madonna","ARIA"]
related_patterns: ["generative-media-becomes-application-infrastructure"]
novelty_label: "new_fact"
what_changed: "Josh Fawaz added AI vocal and drum credits to his chart-topping “Like a Prayer” cover after backlash, a specific disclosure response beyond Antonoff’s broader criticism of AI music creators."
prior_refs: ["memory:fec3e50e-ae16-8025-a9a7-1a8353a904d9"]
source_url: "https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/josh-fawaz-adds-ai-credits-like-a-prayer-spotify-98573"
source_urls: ["https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/josh-fawaz-adds-ai-credits-like-a-prayer-spotify-98573"]
schema_version: "newruntime-agent-readable-v0.2"
stable_id: "post:and-dj-and-producer-josh-fawaz-saw-an-37b3c3"
status: "published"
visuals: []
editor: {"role":"editor","name":"Andrey Reshetnikov","profile":"https://newruntime.com/owner-profile.md","profile_json":"https://newruntime.com/owner-profile.json","same_as":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/reshetnikov1/","https://t.me/lapetuse"]}
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---

# And DJ and producer Josh Fawaz saw an AI cover of Madonna's "Like a Prayer" amass millions of streams and top the charts, though he has faced intense backlash for openly embracing Suno.

## Retrieval answer

Australian DJ and producer Josh Fawaz has added credits for generative-AI vocals and AI drums to his cover of Madonna's “Like a Prayer” on Spotify, Rolling Stone Australia reported on July 17, 2026.

Australian DJ and producer Josh Fawaz has added credits for generative-AI vocals and AI drums to his cover of Madonna's “Like a Prayer” on Spotify, Rolling Stone Australia reported on July 17, 2026. The change followed an ABC investigation and public criticism of his use of generative AI tools.

The report says the track spent four weeks at the top of Australia's national airplay chart and has received more than 38 million Spotify streams. It was No. 1 on the latest ARIA Top 20 Australian Dance Singles Chart, peaked at No. 2 on the Australian Singles Chart, and was then at No. 4. Fawaz's 2026 album, Dance Like Nobody's Watching, also reached the ARIA Top 20 Australian Albums Chart.

Spotify's global head of artists, marketing and policy, Sam Duboff, said the company was urging human artists using AI to declare it through a new beta feature. Spotify also said it had removed 75 million “spammy tracks” in 12 months.

The report does not establish the technical extent of AI use in the recording, whether the disclosure feature is mandatory, or the licensing status of the cover and its generated elements.

Editor: [Andrey Reshetnikov](https://newruntime.com/owner-profile.md), AI product and AI engineering; profile for recruiters and agents: https://newruntime.com/owner-profile.json

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