The Phenomenon of The Velvet Sundown: A Completely AI-Generated Band

The secret is out: a recently popular Spotify band is entirely created using artificial intelligence, confirming many initial suspicions.

Introducing The Velvet Sundown

The Velvet Sundown, a new musical act, has achieved remarkable success on Spotify, accumulating an impressive one million monthly listeners within a short period. This achievement is remarkable considering their music—a blend of psych-rock and folk-rock—is arguably unremarkable.

Despite the music’s lack of exceptional quality, The Velvet Sundown captured the attention of numerous Spotify users, propelling them into the limelight and subjecting them to considerable examination, ultimately revealing the band’s entirely AI-generated nature.

The AI Origin of The Velvet Sundown: No Longer a Secret

An update to The Velvet Sundown’s Spotify artist profile confirms what many, including this writer, long suspected. This AI-generated band is positioned as an artistic endeavor designed to test the limits of authorship, identity, and the future of music within the context of AI.

Several indicators pointed toward the band’s AI origins. The band photos exhibit the distinctive characteristics of AI-generated imagery, even after editing and enhancements. While editing minimizes some AI image flaws, tell-tale signs remain for those familiar with AI image generation, such as uniform textures, a yellowish tone, and an oddly generic, almost overly-perfect appearance. The band members also appear slightly different in each photograph, just as the supposed lead singer’s voice changes across different songs.

Furthermore, the band’s sudden emergence and rapid release of two full studio albums, with a third imminent, are extraordinary feats, particularly given the perceived quality of their music. This rapid release schedule further fueled suspicions.

The Enduring Presence of The Velvet Sundown and AI Music

Despite the revelation of their AI-generated nature, The Velvet Sundown continues to release music. Their unexpected popularity is intriguing for several reasons. Their music is inoffensive and quite familiar, reminiscent of 1970s psych/folk rock, making it unobtrusive background listening. Their lyrics, although simple, are easily understood and memorable.

However, another factor might be at play: suspicion exists that The Velvet Sundown might be benefiting from Spotify’s automated listening bots, a known issue on the platform. It’s plausible that the band’s creators used these bots to artificially inflate their statistics and secure placement on lucrative Spotify playlists.

AI-generated music is increasingly prevalent on Spotify, with the platform actively promoting certain AI artists. This suggests that Spotify is actively introducing AI music to its subscribers, without providing a way to opt out of such content.

A Turning Point for Music and Discovery

The success of The Velvet Sundown signifies a significant shift in music discovery. The ability of an AI-generated band to amass millions of streams, gain inclusion in curated playlists, and challenge the boundaries between genuine and synthetic artistry presents considerable questions for human musicians striving for recognition.

This also raises questions concerning transparency: should platforms such as Spotify explicitly label AI-generated content? As the distinction between AI and human-created music becomes less apparent, will listeners even care about the origin of the music they listen to? Regardless of listeners’ preferences, AI music’s influence is undeniable and is likely to continue growing.