Spotify breakout band The Velvet Sundown have hit back at AI rumours, despite growing suspicion the band is AI-generated.
A viral new act called The Velvet Sundown has sparked fierce debate online, with many listeners and industry observers convinced the band is AI-generated. The supposed band members have since pushed back hard against the claims, taking to social media to decry the “so-called ‘journalists'” pushing the “lazy, baseless theory.”
The controversy began after The Velvet Sundown racked up over 400,000 monthly Spotify listeners (since hitting the news, that now sits at 634,000) with their laid-back, 70s-inspired soft rock. Songs like ‘Dust on the Wind’, ‘Drift Beyond the Flame’, and ‘End the Pain’ have appeared on various user-created playlists, helping the band’s streaming numbers soar. However, despite the group’s Verified Artist status on Spotify, no one has been able to find credible evidence of the band members’ existence.
The band’s Spotify bio lists members like singer and mellotron player Gabe Farrow, guitarist Lennie West, synth player Milo Raines, and percussionist Orion “Rio” Del Mar. However, none of these individuals seem to have any discernible online presence. Fans and journalists alike have tried unsuccessfully to verify their identities.
Fuelling skepticism are suspicious signs including album covers with AI-like surreal desert scenes featuring floating eyes and staircases, inconsistent vocals across tracks, and their generic lyrics and sound. Their Instagram page only features what appear to be AI-generated band photos, without any live shots, venue announcements, or behind-the-scenes content typically expected from an active band.
Some streaming services have also weighed in: as reported by NME, Deezer has flagged The Velvet Sundown’s albums with the message, “Some tracks on this album may have been created using artificial intelligence,” citing their AI-detection filters. By contrast, Spotify and Apple Music have yet to include any disclaimers.
An account claiming to represent The Velvet Sundown posted a denial to X on June 30, stating: “This is our music, written in long, sweaty nights in a cramped bungalow in California with real instruments, real minds, and real soul.” The statement continued: “Every chord, every lyric, every mistake — HUMAN. Just because we don’t do TikTok dances or livestream our process doesn’t mean we’re fake.”
“Absolutely crazy that so-called “journalists” keep pushing the lazy, baseless theory that The Velvet Sundown is “AI-generated” with zero evidence,” the post begins. “Not a single one of these “writers” has reached out, visited a show, or listened beyond the Spotify algorithm. This is not a joke.”
It’s worth noting that since posting, multiple journalists have reached out via comments asking to interview The Velvet Sundown, to which the account has replied with an emphatic yes. Based on each of these threads, the band has replied to DMs, but no interviews have yet been locked in or conducted.
Frustration over AI’s place in music is growing among listeners, especially after Spotify’s 2024 policy change that demonetises songs with fewer than 1,000 annual streams, a move that has made it even harder for many human artists to earn a living. As AI-generated music becomes increasingly sophisticated, some worry bands like The Velvet Sundown, real or not, could overshadow legitimate artists struggling for attention.
As of now, Spotify has not responded to requests for comment about how the band achieved Verified status or whether they have investigated The Velvet Sundown’s origins.
It’s not clear whether The Velvet Sundown are a very bold marketing stunt or fully of AI creation, although it looks like with looming interviews, we might know the answer soon. Even if the band does turn out to be real, the whole saga has shone a light on demands for greater transparency from streaming platforms.
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