Generative AI software isn’t just for creating text, photos, and videos. AI can also make audio, which requires synthesizing speech, background audio, and music for AI video services like Veo 3, or creating music that sounds like something you’d stream on Spotify or Apple Music. Fuzz AI is an example of the latter, a music streaming experience with AI at the center.
While I don’t mind artists embracing AI tools, whether via video or song, I want to be forewarned that a creation has been altered or created with AI. I can then decide to experience it knowing that I might run into AI-generated content or AI slop.
Not all people using AI will be quick to admit they’re doing so with their art, though. The latest example is an AI band called The Velvet Sundown, which doesn’t exist in real life. Whoever generated them managed to reach 500,000 listeners on Spotify in just a few weeks.
According to Ars Technica, some Spotify users posted messages on social media about a week ago, warning that The Velvet Sundown might be an AI band.
These posts went up on social media a couple of weeks after The Velvet Sundown joined the streaming service. During that time, the fake band topped 300,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. At the time of this writing, the AI band has over 550,000 monthly listeners.
It’s not like people are actively looking for the band. More likely, Spotify’s algorithms surface songs from The Velvet Sundown’s two albums. That’s how they reach thousands of people who might listen to the songs without realizing or caring that it’s AI-generated content.
Spotify doesn’t label the band as AI. The artist page for The Velvet Sundown has a “Verified Artist” checkmark. The band is also present on Deezer, which has a tougher stance on AI. The band’s bio on Deezer does say: “Some tracks on this album may have been created using artificial intelligence.”
Here’s what the band’s description read on Spotify, at least until a few days ago:
The Velvet Sundown don’t just play music they conjure worlds. Somewhere between the ghost of Laurel Canyon and the echo of a Berlin warehouse, this four-piece band bends time, fusing 1970s psychedelic textures with cinematic alt-pop and dreamy analog soul. Their sound is all velvet reverb, swirling organs, tremolo-soaked guitar lines, and voices that sound like they’ve been unearthed from forgotten reels of tape.
The AI band has two albums out on Spotify and plans to release a third soon. That might be a dead giveaway that we’re not looking at a real band.
It so happens that John Oliver tackled AI slop on a recent Last Week Tonight episode, which included an AI band called The Devil Inside that made no fewer than 10 albums in the past two years.
Ars points out that the two fake bands have many songs that reference dust and wind, suggesting they might share a common AI model. There’s no established connection between the two AI bands, though.
While there’s no official confirmation that The Velvet Sundown is an AI band, there is more evidence that there aren’t any human members. The band created an Instagram profile a few days ago as people were questioning its existence on social media. The Instagram account features photos showing the band’s members that appear to be created using AI.
One image has four people sitting at a table, celebrating the success of their first two albums on Spotify. The “photo” looks good, but features telltale signs of AI. Just look at the number of burgers and plates, the strange position of the glasses, and that unmistakable AI look of humans. Look at the symmetrical faces and the image’s overall smoothness.
You can use AI to make lifelike images, like the new Higgsfield Soul tool, assuming you’re aware of it or have access to it. But one wouldn’t be able to hide an AI band for long.
Again, there’s nothing wrong with AI music on streaming services like Spotify. After all, The Beatles used AI to launch a hit song. But listeners should at least be warned that they’re about to hear AI-made songs. Some people might listen to it regardless of labels or warnings, while others might skip it.
What’s certain is that AI bands like The Velvet Sundown are taking the place of real artists in Spotify playlists, depriving them of revenue. John Oliver’s full segment on AI slop and why it’s dangerous follows below:
