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AI-Generated Band "The Velvet Sundown" Raises Concerns Over Spotify Royalties and Artist Future

AI-Generated Band 'The Velvet Sundown' Sparks Royalty Debate on Spotify A recent investigation by music analyst Chris Dalla Riva has brought to light concerns surrounding "The Velvet Sundown," an AI-generated band reportedly accumulating hundreds of thousands of streams on Spotify. Dalla Riva, author of "Uncharted Territory," detailed his findings in a video, highlighting several indicators of the band's artificial origin. According to Dalla Riva, "The Velvet Sundown" boasts over 300,000 monthly listeners, with their top song, "Dust on the Wind," garnering over 200,000 plays since its early June release. He noted a "metallicky sheen" in the vocals, characteristic of AI-generated audio. Further evidence includes an AI-generated band photo and a description filled with "M-dashes" frequently used by AI. Crucially, Dalla Riva found no legitimate information about the band online. The primary concern, Dalla Riva explains, is that Spotify's algorithms are recommending "The Velvet Sundown's" songs, leading to royalty collection by the creators of the AI. He also revealed that the band's entire catalog is being added to popular user-generated playlists, including one titled "Vietnam War Music," which otherwise features classic 1960s and 70s rock songs. This suggests a deliberate effort to inflate streams and divert royalties from human artists. Dalla Riva argues that while technology has always influenced art, the ease of generating vast amounts of AI music at scale threatens to "flood services" and "completely crowd out people who are trying to make a career as an artist." He emphasizes that this practice is fundamentally different from traditional music production, as it prioritizes profit through automated generation over genuine artistic creation.