The Truth About the Band That's Going Viral on Spotify

The Velvet Sundown, a band with two new albums under its belt that’s attracting hundreds of thousands of Spotify users, is, in fact, entirely the product of artificial intelligence.

AI-generated music is becoming increasingly unrecognizable: Photo: Cathryn Virginia .

Artistic creation has long been considered a human prerogative. However, with the rapid development of generative AI, machines are now able to simulate that creativity. Whether or not AI-generated products can truly be considered “art” is a matter of debate, but Spotify doesn’t seem to draw the line.

A band called “The Velvet Sundown” recently appeared on the music streaming platform Spotify and quickly attracted more than 500,000 listens. However, it is increasingly clear that The Velvet Sundown is not a real band, but a product of AI.

AI "Band"

In less than a month, The Velvet Sundown has released two albums on Spotify, with a third due in two weeks. Many listeners have noted that, when listened to randomly, the group’s songs may not reveal anything unusual. However, if listened to consecutively, the dullness and monotony quickly reveal that this is a machine-made product.

Over the past week, questions about The Velvet Sundown ’s existence have been rife, with multiple posts on Reddit and X pointing out the lack of information about the band. The band’s bio lists four members, but none of them have any trace beyond their social media accounts.

Notably, the band’s songs were mysteriously added to users’ playlists, contributing to a spike in listenership in just a few weeks. When Spotify users first became skeptical of The Velvet Sundown’s use of AI, the band had around 300,000 listeners. Now, in less than a week, that number has surpassed 500,000.

The Velvet Sundown's incriminating photo. Photo: The Velvet Sundown/Instagram.

When The Velvet Sundowns launched their Instagram account on June 27, all doubts were dispelled: the band was clearly AI. The photos posted revealed many irregularities, such as showing off burgers celebrating but with too many burgers for the plate, or food and drinks placed haphazardly. Notably, the members had smooth skin and unrealistically symmetrical faces – characteristics of AI-generated images.

The Velvet Sundown isn’t the only case of AI “sneaking” into streaming services. On a recent episode of Last Week Tonight , host John Oliver revealed that AI band The Devil Inside has also released 10 albums in just 2 years.

Coincidentally, both The Velvet Sundown and The Devil Inside have multiple tracks that mention “dust” and “wind.” This could be due to a overlap in the music generation models, or simply that they both come from the same AI music “factory.”

Need AI music classification

Spotify now accepts AI-generated music without requiring disclosure of its source. The Velvet Sundown is also available on other streaming platforms, including Deezer, which has a stricter AI policy.

According to NME , The Velvet Sundown 's Deezer bio includes a disclaimer that reads: "Some tracks on this album may have been generated using AI." NME also points out that the band's Spotify bio previously cited a glowing description of their music from Billboard. The praise remains, but the Billboard name has been removed.

The Velvet Sundown Instagram account is flooded with comments denouncing the use of AI. The scary thing is that one day, it won't be so easy to tell the difference between AI-generated content and real.

Another AI band called The Devil Inside is also receiving millions of streams on Spotify. Photo: The Devil Inside.

There’s nothing wrong with listening to AI-generated music, as there are countless YouTube channels offering virtually limitless AI music. It’s an exciting technology whose output has improved significantly since models like Google MusicLM and OpenAI Jukebox were introduced.

However, it is essential that users clearly distinguish between AI products and human-made products.

Art created by humans is a reflection of the world and personal feelings. In contrast, products created by machines, no matter how catchy the melody, are just random blends of existing works, lacking deep meaning.

Google and others are working to develop a verifiable signature for AI-generated images. A similar mechanism needs to be applied to audio, especially if major streaming services continue to allow AI music without requiring explicit disclosure.

Source: https://znews.vn/ban-nhac-gay-sot-tren-spotify-la-ai-post1565151.html