An AI-generated band got 1m plays on Spotify. Now music insiders say listeners should be warned
They went viral, amassing more than 1m streams on Spotify in a matter of weeks, but it later emerged that hot new band the Velvet Sundown were AI-generated – right down to their music, promotional images and backstory,The episode has triggered a debate about authenticity, with music industry insiders saying streaming sites should be legally obliged to tag music created by AI-generated acts so consumers can make informed decisions about what they are listening to,Initially, the “band”, described as “a synthetic music project guided by human creative direction”, denied they were an AI creation, and released two albums in June called Floating On Echoes and Dust And Silence, which were similar to the country folk of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young,Things became more complicated when someone describing himself as an “adjunct” member told reporters that the Velvet Sundown had used the generative AI platform Suno in the creation of their songs, and that the project was an “art hoax”,The band’s official social media channels denied this and said the group’s identity was being “hijacked”, before releasing a statement confirming that the group was an AI creation and was “Not quite human.
Not quite machine” but living “somewhere in between”.Several figures told the Guardian that the present situation, where streaming sites, including Spotify, are under no legal obligation to identify AI-generated music, left consumers unaware of the origins of the songs they’re listening to.Roberto Neri, the chief executive of the Ivors Academy, said: “AI-generated bands like Velvet Sundown that are reaching big audiences without involving human creators raise serious concerns around transparency, authorship and consent.”Neri added that if “used ethically”, AI has the potential to enhance songwriting, but said at present his organisation was concerned with what he called “deeply troubling issues” with the use of AI in music.Sophie Jones, the chief strategy officer at the music trade body the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), backed calls for clear labelling.
“We believe that AI should be used to serve human creativity, not supplant it,” said Jones.“That’s why we’re calling on the UK government to protect copyright and introduce new transparency obligations for AI companies so that music rights can be licensed and enforced, as well as calling for the clear labelling of content solely generated by AI.”Liz Pelly, the author of Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist, said independent artists could be exploited by people behind AI bands who might create tracks that are trained using their music.She referred to the 2023 case of a song that was uploaded to TikTok, Spotify and YouTube, which used AI-generated vocals claiming to be the Weeknd and Drake.Universal Music Group said the song was “infringing content created with generative AI” and it was removed shortly after it was uploaded.
It is not clear what music the Velvet Sundown’s albums were trained on, with critics saying that lack of clarity means independent artists could be losing out on compensation.Pelly said: “We need to make sure that it’s not just pop stars whose interests are being looked after, all artists should have the ability to know if their work has been exploited in this way.”For some, the appearance of the Velvet Sundown is the logical next step as music and AI combine, while legislation is fighting to keep up with a rapidly changing musical ecosystem.Sign up to Sleeve NotesGet music news, bold reviews and unexpected extras.Every genre, every era, every weekafter newsletter promotionJones said: “The rise of AI-generated bands and music entering the market points to the fact that tech companies have been training AI models using creative works – largely without authorisation or payment to creators and rights-holders – in order to directly compete with human artistry.
”Neri added that the UK has a chance to lead the world in ethical AI adoption in music but said there needed to be robust legal frameworks that “guarantee consent and fair remuneration for creators, and clear labelling for listeners”,“Without such safeguards, AI risks repeating the same mistakes seen in streaming, where big tech profits while music creators are left behind,” he added,Aurélien Hérault, the chief innovation officer at the music streaming service Deezer, said the company uses detection software that identifies AI-generated tracks and tags them,He said: “For the moment, I think platforms need to be transparent and try to inform users,For a period of time, what I call the ‘naturalisation of AI’, we need to inform users when it’s used or not.
”Hérault did not rule out removing tagging in future if AI-generated music becomes more popular and musicians begin to use it like an “instrument”.Deezer recently told the Guardian that up to seven out of 10 streams of AI-generated music on the platform are fraudulent.At present, Spotify does not label music as AI-generated and has previously been criticised for populating some playlists with music by “ghost artists” – fake acts that create stock music.A spokesperson for the company said Spotify does not prioritise AI-generated music.“All music on Spotify, including AI-generated music, is created, owned and uploaded by licensed third parties,” they said.
My cultural awakening: I joined Danny Wallace’s accidental positivity cult – and found the love of my life
I was aimless and lonely after finishing my A-levels. Then a friend recommended the author’s book and everything changedThe spring after my A-levels was not going the way I planned. I was 19, hadn’t got the required grades for any of my university choices and hadn’t saved for a gap year. My friends were off enjoying their new lives and I was stuck at home in Essex with my disappointed parents, doing occasional temp work.Then I read Join Me by the writer and comedian Danny Wallace
Watch the Skies to Wet Leg: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
Watch the SkiesOut now With the return of all things Y2K in fashion and music, it makes sense that the turn of the millennium fascination with little green men would likewise be back in vogue. But this sci-fi about a teenager teaming up with an agency that investigates paranormal phenomena is notable for its futuristic qualities too: it uses AI dubbing technology to create an English-language film from the Swedish original.SupermanOut now Superman is dead, long live Superman: wave goodbye to handsome hunk Henry Cavill’s stint as the man of steel and say hello to the new era of equally handsome hunk David Corenswet, a veteran of two Ryan Murphy series on Netflix. At the helm of this reboot is James Gunn, the director behind diverse entertainments including Slither and Guardians of the Galaxy.Michael Haneke RetrospectiveVarious venues nationwide; to 30 July The Austrian director is known for making films that are often kind of a bummer, but also bona fide masterpieces
The Guide #198: Such Brave Girls shows that grown-up gross-out comedy is thriving
The best binge-watches should make you feel a little bit sick while you gorge on them, and Kat Sadler’s sitcom Such Brave Girls, which just returned for a second season on BBC Three and iPlayer, certainly fits that description. I found myself burning through episodes, the enjoyment of them tempered with the slightest top note of nausea.That isn’t a criticism of the series, which follows the chaotically bleak existence of adult sisters Josie (Sadler) and Billie (Lizzie Davidson), still living at home with their wild-eyed mother, Deb (Louise Brealey). In fact it’s the intended reaction. From its logo (the title of the show made out in strands of wet hair slithering across bathroom tiles) onwards, Such Brave Girls is built to shock, unsettle and gross out, but above all be laughed at
‘What should be taught in schools?’: the infamous ‘Scopes monkey trial’ turns 100
Her great-grandfather was a doctor called to attend to the lawyer who put the case for creationism. Her great-grandmother was related to Charles Darwin. And now she works in the courthouse where the “trial of the century” – in which a high school teacher was accused of illegally teaching evolution – began exactly a century ago on Thursday.No one has a perspective on the “Scopes monkey trial” quite like Pat Guffey, a former high school biology teacher in Dayton, Tennessee. As the city prepares to mark the centenary with a week-long festival including a dramatic re-enactment of the court battle, she is aware how its legacy proved both a blessing and a curse
Comedian Paul Smith: ‘People get disappointed when they meet me in real life. I’m really quiet’
The scouse standup’s cheeky takedowns of his audiences have earned him viral fame, 1.2 million Instagram followers and a string of sold-out arena shows. But is that the real him? Far from it, he saysAt the Hot Water Comedy Club in Liverpool, Paul Smith’s standup double-header feels like a pop star’s homecoming. Women are wearing his tour T-shirts as dresses and the bar is half a dozen deep with fans hoping to get roasted by the local comic famous for his audience takedowns. There are first-daters, girls’ night outs, lads’ night outs, tourists, locals, couples, mothers and their grownup sons clamouring for a spot on the front row
Clash of cultures: exhibition tells story of when Vikings ruled the north of England
Viking North at Yorkshire Museum features UK’s largest exhibition of Viking-age artefacts, including era’s ‘cheap’ jewellery and evidence of slave-owningWhen Anglo-Saxons buried their jewellery in an attempt to keep it safe from marauding Vikings, it is unlikely they envisaged their treasures would be dug up a millennium later and studied by their descendants.Nor would they have expected the items to sit alongside everyday objects owned by their Scandinavian oppressors as part of the largest exhibition of Viking-age artefacts in the UK, aiming to tell the story for the first time of the invaders’ power base in the north of England.“This is the finest collection of objects from Viking-age England that you can see on display in a museum in this country,” says Dr Adam Parker, curator of archaeology at York Museums Trust.Viking North, which opens on Friday, focuses on the settlement of the Viking Great Army, as it is known, which arrived in the north of England from Scandinavia in AD866 and spent two centuries controlling the territory.Among the exhibits are examples of the Vikings’ great wealth, some of which appeared to be raided from holy sites, such as an Anglo-Saxon silver-gilt bowl with Christian symbolism on it found buried with a Viking warrior
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