iHeartRadio is drawing a line in the digital sand.
In a new staff memo, the company announced it will not play AI-generated music or allow synthetic voices on its airwaves — a stance that arrives just weeks after AI artists started climbing real-world charts, including the AI-generated creator Solomon Ray who recently hit No. 1 on Apple Music’s Christian Songs and Christian Albums charts.
Tom Poleman, President of National Programming at iHeartMedia, told staff the network is doubling down on “authentic human connection,” a phrase that now amounts to a formal policy: no AI songs, no bot DJs, no digital avatars pretending to call in during morning shows.
“We guarantee we’re never playing AI music,” Poleman said. “There won’t be AI music, AI listeners, none of that.”
The decision lands during a volatile moment for the music industry. AI creators are exploding on streaming platforms, racking up millions of plays and sparking debates about authorship, ethics and what counts as “real” art in 2025. The Solomon Ray moment in particular sent shockwaves through Christian music circles, raising questions about whether the future of worship and inspirational music could be shaped by algorithms instead of artists.
iHeartMedia, at least, isn’t interested in that future — not yet. The memo cited growing concern from both creators and audiences about AI’s expanding role in media. That aligns with the company’s own research, which shows most listeners still lean heavily toward human-made music and live DJ personalities they can trust. People want voices with stories, mistakes, emotions, quirks, not a neural network guessing what a chorus should sound like.
