Popular Band Admits That They’re AI-Generated After Two Albums And 1 Million Plays
Hot new band The Velvet Sundown has risen in popularity throughout the past few weeks. They’ve earned over one million streams on Spotify with the release of two albums. Now, the band is making headlines after admitting that all of the music, promotional images, backstory, and artistry that’s been consumed by the public was generated by artificial intelligence.
Music industry insiders are now having a very public debate, and warning listeners, over the authenticity of the work itself. According to reports, insiders believe that streaming platforms and the individuals responsible for creating music with AI should be required to disclose the use of the technology in relation to the work.
Insiders are upset that the “band” was also denying the use of AI to create their work. The “band” described their work as “a synthetic music project guided by human creative direction,” which industry heads are pointing out to be obviously misleading.
The discovery of the use of AI came about when an individual who described themselves as an “adjunct member” of the group told reporters with Fader that the band utilized Suno, a generative AI platform, to create their songs, and even said the entire project was an “art hoax.”
In response, the band posted on their social media that the claims from the adjunct member weren’t true and the identity of the band had been “hijacked.”
Shortly after, however, the band released a statement confirming that they were created using AI and were “Not quite human. Not quite machine, [but] somewhere in between.”
Listeners would never be able to tell by simply consuming the music due to the fact that streaming sites like Spotify don’t have any legal obligation to point out AI-generated music. Roberto Neri, the chief executive of the Ivors Academy, one of the largest professional associations for music writers in Europe, spoke to the Guardian about this new issue within the industry.
“AI-generated bands like Velvet Sundown that are reaching big audiences without involving human creators raise serious concerns around transparency, authorship and consent.”
Neri continued to say that there is room for AI within the music industry, claiming that the technology has the potential to “enhance songwriting,” however, the newness and lack of regulation regarding AI, especially in the multitude of art industries, makes it difficult.
Sophie Jones, chief strategy officer at the British Phonographic Industry, echoed the sentiment that artists who use AI should at the very least be open and honest about it.
“We believe that AI should be used to serve human creativity, not supplant it.”
“That’s why we’re calling on the UK government to protect copyright and introduce new transparency obligations for AI companies so that music rights can be licensed and enforced, as well as calling for the clear labelling of content solely generated by AI.”
Liz Pelly, an expert and author of Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist, pointed out that the use of AI in the music industry is especially exploitative towards independent artists that people behind AI bands might be using to help train the technology and create tracks.
“We need to make sure that it’s not just pop stars whose interests are being looked after, all artists should have the ability to know if their work has been exploited in this way,” Pelly said, referring to the recent uptick in AI-generated music in the style of famous performers such as Drake, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, The Weeknd, and more.
Jones added: “The rise of AI-generated bands and music entering the market points to the fact that tech companies have been training AI models using creative works – largely without authorization or payment to creators and rights-holders – in order to directly compete with human artistry.”
Currently, popular streaming platform Spotify doesn’t label music as AI-generated. This has led to criticism regarding the curation of artists, songs, and playlists by “ghost artists.”
A spokesperson for Spotify said: “All music on Spotify, including AI-generated music, is created, owned, and uploaded by licensed third parties.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
