Dust on the windAt Operation beyond the flame, and Finish the pain, are all the songs of the warm new band The Velvet Sundown, which is blasting on Spotify with over 470,000 monthly listeners. There is only one problem. It does not appear that the band actually exists and the music seems to have been created by AI.
While the band appears as a verified artist on Spotify, the bio says an incredible amount of unspoken things about the band, just like “there is something quite enchanting about the velvet sunset. You don’t just listen to those you drive into them”.
The bio shows the band members as singer and Mellotron player Gabe Farrow, guitarist Lennie West, Milo Raine, who “handles the band’s structured synth sounds” and “Free Spirited” Percussionist Orion “Rio” del Mar. No amount of digging that I (or the music press) have been able to have persuaded me that any of these people are real.
The music itself sounds to me like a kind of mash-up of various soft, land-influenced, rock band like Eagles, JJ Cale and Allman Brothers. I can also detect an element of another Texas band, Khruangbin, in their sound.
Dust and silence
Velvet Sundown already has an album out, Dust and silenceAs you can listen to right now, and another, Paper Sun Rebellionis ready to release in 13 days on July 14, but the signs of AI have everything to do with them.
For example, both album cover are similar to two versions of the same AI-generated design. Both are surreal scenes with a floating eye and a staircase in a desert landscape with mountains in the background. It seems what happens when AI generates two or more versions of an image that you can choose from.
So look at pictures of the band – they look like they’ve been created by Chatgpt to me. If you look at the band’s Instagram account, you will see what obviously looks like AI-generated photos of the band.
With powerful AI music creation tools such as Suno available online, it is very possible that the special mix of easy listening, mid-way, rock that the velvet sunset specializes in is also AI created. Another gift for me is that the singer’s voice sounds a little different on every track that the band plays, and the music has a soulful, generic quality for it, even if it provides a pleasant and inoffensive background listening. There is nothing coherent between the tracks that makes me think they are played by the same people.
Hard times
As we reported in February, since 2024, Spotify has demonized songs that don’t get 1,000 streams a year – after some estimates, 86% of the music on the platform – making it even harder for musicians to earn life’s stay.
At a time when the big streaming services are reaping huge profits and artists who are not in the top percentage of streamers are fighting is the fact that an AI band grabs the ears of listeners away from real human generated music while not labeled as AI turns out to be divisive.
Many people are understandably dissatisfied with the fact that what seems to be a completely AI-generated band is getting acting and supported by Spotify.
“Just looked them up and the description on Spotify doesn’t mention anyone AI. This will get me honest to Blyzo.
“Yes, that’s what people are today; all fraud, and all supporters of fake. Milli vanilli came for decades too early!” Commented on Reddit user Big-Rabbit9119
However, Reddit user Anypomegranate4981 Said, “ngl songs are fire”.
We reached out to Spotify to comment on how this band had achieved verified status and if it thought the velvet sunset was a real band, despite all the obvious evidence, but they haven’t answered. We will update this article if we get an answer.
One thing that took place for me was that if it’s a real band then this could be a very smart marketing campaign. Generating controversy by looking to be a fake AI band would be a great way to get yourself noticed.
If velvet sunset is actually an AI band, one thing is for sure – however – it is unlikely that we will ever see them play live.
