The Velvet Sundown: AI-Generated Band Sparks Controversy and Debate in Music Industry

Half a million Spotify users are unknowingly grooving to an AI-generated band

Making art used to be a uniquely human endeavor, but machines have learned to distill human creativity with generative AI. Whether that content counts as "art" depends on who you ask, but Spotify doesn't discriminate. A new band called The Velvet Sundown debuted on Spotify this month and has

From Sensual Butt Songs to Santa's Alleged Coke Habit: AI Slop Music Is Getting Harder to Avoid

AI slop is flooding every single digital platform, and music streaming services are no exception -- so much so, even someone who generally avoids AI might find themselves unknowingly listening to a robot hornily singing about butts. Take the sordid saga of "Make Love to My Shitter," an

This Band With a Million Monthly Spotify Listeners Now Confirms It's Using AI

It's tough as a band to record, release, and market two new albums in under 30 days, but it's much easier if all of the music is artificially generated. That's confirmed to be the case with The Velvet Sundown, which has risen through the ranks on Spotify over the last month since the release of its

The Velvet Sundown's shaggy retro-rock has attracted 750,000 listeners -- but is it all an AI hoax?

The Velvet Sundown have come out of nowhere with their clumsily familiar name to rack up over 750,000 Spotify listeners. Unknown just a few weeks ago, they released two albums of throwback 1970s-style rock in June, and are poised to send another into the world this month. Despite the sensimilla

Velvet Sundown: Viral band success spawns AI claims and hoaxes

A band called The Velvet Sundown has had its tracks played hundreds of thousands of times on Spotify since appearing several weeks ago - without anyone knowing for sure what it is. The band has a verified page on the music streaming platform, with more than 850,000 monthly listeners. However,

A viral band on Spotify is probably AI -- but there's no label to tell you

AI slop is flooding music streaming sites but only Deezer is flagging it AI slop songs are flooding Spotify -- and the latest hit is by an indie rock band called The Velvet Sundown. The track's success has intensified the ongoing debate on whether or not music streaming sites should label

Spotify AI band controversy -- who is The Velvet Sundown and are they real?

Looks like there's a new band in town that's taking the world by Storm. They're called "The Velvet Sundown," they're a four-piece psychedelic rock act from "a sweaty garage in California," and they sound a little bit like a mixture between Pink Floyd, Tame Impala, and King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard

Spotify's latest breakout band The Velvet Sundown appears to be AI-generated - and fans aren't happy

I wonder where they got that idea? (Image credit: The Velvet Sundown) Dust on the Wind, Drift Beyond the Flame, and End the Pain, are all songs by the hot new band The Velvet Sundown, who are blowing up on Spotify with over 470,000 monthly listeners. There's only one problem. It doesn't look like

AI Images of Fake Rock Band Help Propel Them to Half a Million Spotify Listeners

Photographers are going to struggle to get pictures of the latest psych-rock sensation The Velvet Sundown since they don't actually exist. Despite a plethora of images available online for the chill rock outfit and nearly half a million monthly listeners on Spotify, The Velvet Sundown is entirely

Apple and Spotify are sleepwalking into an AI music crisis - and The Velvet Sundown mess shows they need to act fast

The first time I heard The Velvet Sundown's album Dust and Silence on Spotify, I thought to myself, hmm, that's not too bad. It hits a lot of the notes I look for in music I can listen to in the background while I work: acoustic guitar, nice vocals, chill beats, and a mellow 60s psychedelic vibe.

The Velvet Sundown changes Spotify bio, gives AI update

Remember The Velvet Sundown, that new Spotify group that people accused of being AI-generated? Welp, it turns out it's AI-generated. Or at least partly. Over the weekend, the band - which currently has over a million monthly listeners on Spotify - updated its "About" page to address its use of

An "Indie Rock Band" That Appears to Be Entirely AI-Generated Is Making Alarming Amounts of Money on Spotify

While real artists struggle to earn money on Spotify, a seemingly AI-generated "band" has garnered enough streams to actually make a buck. As Music Ally reports, the act in question, The Velvet Sundown, recently appeared out of the blue on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, and even

"Indie Rock Band" That's Clearly Using AI Claims That "We Never Use AI"

An "indie rock band" called The Velvet Sundown, which is marketing its music with AI-generated pictures of members that don't appear to exist, is now claiming that "we never use AI." After being publicly accused of being the fabrication of AI, an "official" X account for the band is now seemingly

AI-Generated Music Is Starting to Crowd Out the Real Stuff on Streaming Platforms

The digital platform era hasn't been kind to musicians, to put it lightly. Though platforms like Spotify and Apple Music make it easier for audiences to access their favorite bands than ever before, the algorithms and contracts behind those apps are ruthless, paying artists fractions of pennies

Creator of "Indie Band" Who Insisted It Wasn't AI-Generated Just Admitted the Truth

A "band" that sparked a heated debate for heavily relying on generative AI -- and still somehow accumulating over half a million listeners on Spotify -- has finally admitted the truth. Earlier this week, a self-proclaimed "indie rock band" called The Velvet Sundown claimed on its "official" X

Spotify hit band The Velvet Sundown comes clean on AI

The Velvet Sundown burst onto the music scene in early June and in the space of just a few weeks gained an astonishing 400,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. But its bland music style, hyper-realistic band images, and lack of a digital footprint quickly led many people to suspect that the The

Psych-rock band The Velvet Sundown racks up well over 400,000 Spotify listens within a month, but very quickly turns out to be AI-generated

A psych-rock musical project has racked up 400,000 listens since it started dropping music on Spotify a little under a month ago. So why am I, a girlypop with a penchant for German metal and videogame soundtracks, talking about them? Called The Velvet Sundown (not to be confused with either 2014's

What People Are Getting Wrong This Week: 'The Velvet Sundown' and AI Music

The internet is full is misinformation, conspiracies, and lies. Each week, we tackle the misunderstandings that are going viral. Have you heard of The Velvet Sundown? Me neither. but the indie rock band has been heating up Spotify's charts this week, with nearly 600,000 monthly listeners

An indie band is blowing up on Spotify, but people think its AI

The music streaming service Deezer says music by The Velvet Sundown is one hundred percent AI generated. An indie psych rock band has amassed more than 850,000 listeners on Spotify in a matter of weeks and generated buzz throughout the music industry -- but nobody is exactly sure if it's real or

Spotify's Viral Band The Velvet Sundown Is Completely AI -- And We Knew It All Along

The truth is finally out: everyone's favorite new Spotify band is absolute generative AI, just as most of us had suspected all along. Who or What Are The Velvet Sundown? If you've still not heard about The Velvet Sundown, they're a new musical group taking Spotify by storm, racking up a truly

AI 'Band' The Velvet Sundown Used Suno, Is An 'Art Hoax,' Spokesperson Admits

"Things that are fake have sometimes even more impact than things that are real," a band spokesperson tells Rolling Stone The Velvet Sundown, an obviously fictional "band" that's gone viral after somehow racking up over 500,000 monthly listeners on Spotify out of nowhere, used the generative-AI

AI 'Band' the Velvet Sundown Officially Confirm They're AI -- and a 'Provocation'

'Spokesperson' for AI 'Band' Velvet Sundown Now Says He Is an Imposter The AI band The Velvet Sundown, who currently have over 900,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, have officially admitted -- in a new revision to their Spotify bio -- what was obvious to experts and non-experts alike: their music

'Spokesperson' for AI 'Band' Velvet Sundown Now Says He's a Hoaxer

'Spokesperson' for AI 'Band' Velvet Sunset Now Says He Is an Imposter The pseudonymous Eric Frelon, who spoke to Rolling Stone on Wednesday as a spokesperson for the viral AI band Velvet Sundown, and runs a Twitter account that purports to represent the band, was running an elaborate hoax aimed at

'Spokesperson' for AI 'Band' Velvet Sunset Now Says He's a Hoaxer

Hear Foo Fighters Return to Roots With 30th Anniversary Minor Threat Cover The pseudonymous Eric Frelon, who spoke to Rolling Stone on Wednesday as a spokesperson for the viral AI band Velvet Sunset, and runs a Twitter account that purports to represent the band, was running an elaborate hoax

Is AI Music For The Ear Or Soul: Lessons From The Velvet Sundown

Enter your email to get Benzinga's ultimate morning update: The PreMarket Activity Newsletter Like so many others, the music industry isn't immune from artificial intelligence (AI), as it's begun infiltrating creative domains once thought to be exclusively human. AI-generated bands are gaining

Mysterious band The Velvet Sundown soars in popularity, fuelling AI music debate

A mysterious rock band that may not be a band at all has soared in popularity on music streaming sites, raising fresh concerns over the rise of artificial intelligence in the music industry. The group, known as The Velvet Sundown, amassed nearly a million listeners in just a few weeks. But many

Meet Velvet Sundown: The AI music band with over 10 lakh Spotify listeners

As AI bands rise, Velvet Sundown amplifies the tension between innovation and emotional truth in music. In an era where algorithms dictate our playlists and artificial intelligence churns out art like a factory, The Velvet Sundown has stormed the music scene, amassing over 850,000 monthly Spotify