By John Q. Hosedrinker 
While AI music generators haven’t taken over the charts, disturbingly realistic AI songs are subtly infiltrating listeners’ experiences. These tracks are often hidden in playlists alongside authentic music, created by AI artists with fabricated online presences. The Velvet Sundown, a band with hundreds of thousands of streams and a likely ChatGPT-generated bio, exemplifies this trend, with their music appearing in popular playlists and even Spotify’s Discover Weekly. The anonymity surrounding artists like The Velvet Sundown raises concerns about the financial impact on genuine musicians.
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There’s not a shred of evidence on the internet that this band has ever existed: This apparently AI-generated artist is racking up hundreds of thousands of Spotify streams. It’s a weird situation, isn’t it? You hear about this artist, seemingly out of nowhere, and then bam – hundreds of thousands of streams. And yet, when you try to find some sort of history, a website, an interview, a single hint of a past life, you find… nothing. The digital ether offers up absolutely zilch. It’s as if they materialized, fully formed and ready to be streamed, with no prior existence. This is unsettling, to say the least.
The immediate suspicion, of course, lands on AI. It feels like the only explanation that truly fits the bill, especially when you consider the rapid advancements in music generation technology. The fact that major players like Spotify have invested heavily in AI only adds fuel to the fire. You’re seeing it everywhere – artists that sound… well, a little too perfect, a little too generic, or, in some cases, just plain odd. It’s become almost commonplace to stumble across these artificially crafted musicians while just trying to find something new to listen to.
There are some telltale signs. The music itself often has this peculiar “echo” effect on the vocals, or maybe the lyrics are just a little off, not quite making sense. The album art, too, can give you a feeling of unease. It might look visually appealing, but there is this subtle, almost uncanny valley quality about it. And if you are paying close attention you’ll see it’s like a swarm of artists that seemingly only have songs released this year, 2024. Some will even have Instagram and Facebook pages, and maybe some group photos (that are definitely AI-generated).
But the most frustrating thing is that it’s becoming harder and harder to separate these AI-generated artists from the real deal. As a human who loves music, there’s a real annoyance when you are trying to discover legitimate talent, and AI starts polluting the landscape. The whole point of finding new music is to get away from the generic and the uninspired.
This issue could mean that the AI art is being used by scammers to get streams or that the AI artists’ creation is not the problem, the slop that’s becoming mixed in with real music is becoming more and more difficult to weed through. I understand this feeling because there’s a real link between wire fraud and fabricated AI artists. This means that real criminals are out there, using AI to exploit platforms and steal money, which gives the impression that this is an even bigger problem than it seems.
The real question is: where is the money going? Who is benefiting from these streams? It is essential to trace the flow of funds to understand who is truly behind this. If no one is getting paid, it’s possible that Spotify themselves are seeding their playlists with fake music to avoid paying royalties. It’s a cynical prospect, but a potentially accurate one. Another tactic is to sample the music heavily and upload it to Spotify to collect the royalties from the “artist.”
The music industry’s response to this is important. What’s needed is a proactive approach, where music platforms plan for the future rather than be buried in AI-generated content. Unfortunately, it’s also becoming more and more like YouTube – flooded with AI-generated narration and imagery. It’s reaching a point where it’s hard for creators and platforms to keep up.
But, if you focus on the positives, a real artist that doesn’t really exist would be pretty cool. And if real people enjoy this music, does it matter? Sure, people have a right to be angry but this might just be a new level of artistry that we’re entering. One thing is for sure: these AI artists are a symptom of a much larger issue of how we consume and value music in the digital age. It is a brave new world and the future is uncertain.