An AI Band Just Became a Viral Sensation

An indie rock band named Velvet Sundown seemingly appeared out of nowhere, quickly gathering over a million monthly listeners on Spotify and becoming a viral sensation. But as online discussions about the group's authenticity reached a fever pitch, the truth came out: the band isn't real.

The Viral Sensation and the AI Revelation

Named in what appears to be a nod to Lou Reed’s legendary band The Velvet Underground, Velvet Sundown racked up hundreds of thousands of listens, fueling a ferocious online debate about whether the group was genuine or a sophisticated hoax. The speculation officially ended when the band 'owned up' to being an artificial intelligence-generated music project.

An 'Artistic Provocation'

The band's Spotify profile was updated to describe the project as an "ongoing artistic provocation." The profile further clarified, "All characters, stories, music, voices and lyrics are original creations generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools employed as creative instruments." This admission was accompanied by recently created social media profiles featuring photos of the group that looked suspiciously artificial, adding to the mystique.

Industry Reacts to the Rise of AI Music

The Velvet Sundown case highlights a growing anxiety among creators and experts, who have long warned about AI generators blurring the lines between the real and fake. A major study in December 2024 from the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers, which represents over five million creators, warned that artists could see their incomes shrink by more than 20 percent in the next four years due to the expanding market for AI-composed music.

When contacted about Velvet Sundown, Stockholm-based streamer Spotify declined to comment directly but stated through a spokeswoman that the platform does not "prioritise or benefit financially from music created using AI tools" and that all tracks are uploaded by licensed third parties.

In contrast, the rival streaming service Deezer has placed a clear "AI-generated content" warning on Velvet Sundown's profile. Deezer uses an AI-music detection tool and reported in April that 18% of its daily uploads, over 20,000 tracks, were fully AI-generated—a significant increase from 10% in January.