Another day, another AI story. But this time Timbaland is thankfully nowhere to be seen. This quickly evolving story centres around an obscure psych-rock band called The Velvet Sundown. Yes, the name does sound suspiciously like something ChatGPT would be proud of (if it indeed feels pride?!?)

While streaming platforms are already saturated with AI-generated music, this band seems to be doing especially well. Despite The Velvet Sundown being virtually unknown, they’ve racked up a not-too-shabby three-quarters of a million monthly listeners on Spotify….and counting. For a group with absolutely no online presence, this feels somewhat suspicious. Spotify’s Discovery Mode likely played a role in the initial boosting of their numbers, but something still seems a little off.

Playing AI Detective

So first off, I guess we need to deduce whether or not this group is a living, breathing entity or simply a collection of ones and zeros. On first glance, a trained eye can tell there’s something just not quite right about the Velvet Sundown.

The music itself is palatable enough with a throwback early 70’s nostalgic feel. I would go as far as to say it’s rather pleasant in places. The two album releases even sound relatively cohesive, particularly when it comes to the lead singer’s voice. This is something that can be quite hard to achieve with generative AI tools.

And while there are no obvious sonic artefacts, the music has a slightly detached sound to it. Some of the melodic choices seem a little weird. But it’s in the lyrics where things really start to unravel. This is where the generic echoes of AI-generated nonsense are proudly on display! Just a quick flick through the album tracks reveals numerous mentions of drums, smoke, fire, skies in the lyrics, not to mention plenty of journeying metaphors. If you’ve ever dabbled with AI music platforms like Suno or Udio, you’ll know that when it comes to song title generation, it loves to throw in words like echoes, shadows, and floating. Unsurprisingly, The Velvet Sundown’s song titles feature all three, some more than once.

Then there’s the image of the band. At first glance, it looks OK, but a closer inspection reveals a faint whiff of fakery. The limbs and figures all check out, but there’s one glaring giveaway. Who has ever heard of a reel-to-reel tape recorder with just one spool? Busted!!!

Taking all of these factors into account, plus the complete lack of any digital footprint, it seems safe to assume this band is the work of an Artificial Intelligence.

What Does this Mean?

Assuming The Velvet Sundown is AI-generated (and let’s be honest, it almost certainly is), what does this say about the future of music? I guess it all depends on who has been streaming them. There’s a chance, and I’m purely speculating, that some of those listens might not be entirely organic and equally ‘artificial’. Fraud streaming is a huge issue with streaming, and this content is often AI in origin. If that’s the case, at least we can take comfort in knowing that not too many people were duped into accepting artificial psych-rock into their playlists.

It’s also worth noting that there has been a considerable uptake in listeners since it emerged that these releases are artificial. I guess I am guilty of notching up a few listens myself in that regard.

But, if these albums have genuinely resonated with listeners, some big questions start to emerge. Has AI crossed the line where it can now emotionally connect with people? Should we have the right to know if a track or artist is real or not? If people are profiting from AI music that’s being trained on unlicensed copyrighted music how should the profits be split? And finally, what is a Velvet Sundown tour going to look like?!?

I think If this were an EDM project, the conversation might feel slightly different. Dance music tends to be more technology-driven, created in computers using software. The fact that this music is attempting to emulate organic and emotive musicianship with all the warmth and connection associated with it, creates a real dilemma. What is music if it is not the result of human emotion mixed with creativity? Music should talk to us and touch us. Do we really want to be touched by a computer?

Conclusion

Unfortunately, I don’t have any answers to the questions posed in this post. How audiences respond to AI is perhaps one of the biggest questions the music industry is asking itself right now. Viewing the situation cynically, AI artists would be incredibly appealing to big labels? It would mean not having to deal with artists and, maybe more importantly, pay them. any royalties. But on the flip side, live performance remains a lucrative revenue stream, especially with 360 deals. Unless fans are happy to attend holographic concerts, AI musicians can in no way replace the human element of a live performance.

Some have even speculated that The Velvet Sundown might be an internal experiment to gauge public reaction and appetite to AI music. With listening numbers this high, there’s been talk on forums suggesting Spotify could even be behind the project. While that all sounds rather conspiratorial, the implications are still worth considering.

Usually, I’d include a link to the band at the end of a post like this so you can check them out and make your own mind up. In this instance, I will refrain. I genuinely feel uncomfortable further promoting and contributing to their growing streaming numbers. Despite this, I’m pretty sure this band are likely to be the first AI music act to attract over a million monthly listeners.

The question is, will that milestone mark a new era, or is this just a fluke driven by confusion, curiosity and novelty? Only time will tell.

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