If you’ve been feeling ahead of the scene because you got into The Velvet Sundown before they crossed the 300k listener threshold, I’ve got some bad news. A spokesperson has come forward to fess up, and it turns out that The Velvet Sundown isn’t real. Not even a little. The “band” was a complete fabrication created via AI.
If Spotify isn’t your music streaming platform of choice, you may have missed the mysterious band that started dropping tracks that seemed like they were straight out of a dream sequence. The Velvet Sundown exploded in popularity, with over 400,000 listeners tuning in within just two weeks. The indie vibe and vintage sound gave off an underground feel, causing listeners to think they were getting a psych-rock revival.
Except that there is no spoon. The band isn’t actually a band. It’s not even made up of people. The Velvet Sundown was created using Suno, an AI platform that generates songs (music and lyrics included) from written prompts. One of the creators has confessed that the band was actually a carefully crafted hoax, after previously being fully committed to defending the honor of the “band” on social media. They referred to it as “art,” “marketing,” and even just old-fashioned “trolling” before acknowledging that The Velvet Sundown isn’t real. Some of the tracks listeners have been eating up were fully AI-made, with nary a single instrument being utilized. No blood, no sweat, and not one tear went into the making of the music.
A spokesperson spoke to Rolling Stone, where they admitted the truth and claimed that they’re “interested in art hoaxes,” as though they’re a Pink Panther villain. They didn’t name any names, but they did hint at having experience in music and “experimental media.” That’s right, folks. The brains behind the AI music sensation is just a very online troll with access to both Suno and a surplus of time.
Here’s the deal: this wasn’t just a harmless prank. AI content is making life significantly more difficult for real artists who are trying to make a living. When a fake band pops off, that’s attention going to a robot, not to a musician who needs to make rent. If this is a glimpse of the future, then that future is going to be one where the person who owns the AI technology is the one benefitting monetarily from music streams—and real artists are even more broke than they frequently are now. The ethics behind using AI to generate music are shaky at best, but if listeners can’t tell the difference between music created by a robot and music created by an artist who spent hours at the piano, then musicians as a whole are going to suffer. The stunt may seem clever, but it’s clever in the way deepfakes are: annoying, mean, and not actually the flex the creator thinks it is.
With the prevalence of AI continuing to rise, supporting actual artists and musicians is going to be more important than ever.
So the next time you’re looking for new tunes on Spotify and a band appears seemingly out of nowhere with 300K+ streams and little-to-no history, look a little closer. Numbers on Spotify don’t prove that the creator behind the music has a pulse instead of an on/off switch. The Velvet Sundown was fake, but the people who are going to deal with the consequences of this hoax? Actual musicians. Consider this your invitation to catch a live show in your area and do your part in supporting real musicians.
