In an unexpected twist, the Velvet Sundown, a rock band inspired by the sound of the 1960s, has revealed that it is completely generated by artificial intelligence. The announcement came just a month after the group’s debut album, “Floating on Echoes,” attracted over one million listeners on Spotify following its release on June 5.
The band shared its artificial origins on Saturday after fans began to question the absence of any human members or real-life connections online. The standout track from the album, a pro-peace folk rock song titled “Dust on the Wind,” notably topped Spotify’s daily “Viral 50” chart in the UK, Norway, and Sweden from June 29 to July 1.
Despite attracting a significant audience, the one million monthly listeners remained unaware that they were enjoying music crafted by AI without actual musicians behind it. Observations of the band’s promotional photos and album cover revealed telltale signs of AI production—artificially smooth textures and distortions in the images, such as a guitarist’s hand with fused fingers.
Similarly, the lyrics exhibited a blend of common anti-war phrases and familiar clichés, such as, “Nothin’ lasts forever but the earth and sky, it slips away, and all your money won’t another minute buy.” The band’s prolific output was startling; it released two albums in June alone, with another set to come in mid-July.
This weekend, the Velvet Sundown updated its Spotify biography to clarify its nature, ensuring that the project was not an attempt to deceive listeners. The statement noted, “The Velvet Sundown is a synthetic music project guided by human creative direction, and composed, voiced, and visualized with the support of artificial intelligence. This isn’t a trick – it’s a mirror. An ongoing artistic provocation designed to challenge the boundaries of authorship, identity, and the future of music itself in the age of AI.”
In a peculiar turn of events, a web safety expert from Quebec falsely posed as a band representative named Andrew Frelon, and even fed misleading information to Rolling Stone about his alleged connection to the band. However, he later admitted it was a prank intended to stir online reactions.
It remains uncertain if the Velvet Sundown will encounter any repercussions from Spotify or other platforms regarding streaming revenue. In a related development, YouTube announced it will be halting monetization—including ads—for all AI-generated content starting July 15. This follows a recent backlash against YouTuber MrBeast, who rescinded a tool designed to create AI-generated video thumbnails after facing criticism for its potential environmental impact.
