The story of The Velvet Sundown, a band whose music is entirely generated by artificial intelligence, continues to make waves in the media. Notably, the band acquired a spokesperson who made statements on its behalf but later renounced them all.
In June 2025, the indie band began to gain popularity on streaming platforms. Within a few weeks, the band had racked up millions of plays and made it onto the charts of Spotify and other music services.
Despite their success, many musicians and listeners suspected that something was amiss. The band's photos looked like images generated by neural networks, and their songs contained artifacts characteristic of AI-based music generators. Some users suggested this was intentional stylization, while others suspected the band was artificial.
In early July, it became clear that the creativity and image of this project were generated by neural networks. A note appeared on the group's pages stating that The Velvet Sundown was a “creative provocation.” Spotify representatives noted that they saw nothing wrong with the indie band's success because the band's music was "created, owned, and uploaded by licensed third parties."
Some time later, attention was drawn to an interview in Rolling Stone magazine with Andrew Frelon, who introduced himself as a representative of The Velvet Sundown. He noted that the group is a creative hoax intended to troll listeners. He noted that all of the music was created using the Suno AI music generator.
The day after the Rolling Stone article was published, Frelon posted on Medium that he had no connection to The Velvet Sundown. He confirmed that his activities could be described as a creative hoax but said it was aimed at the media, not listeners.
Shortly after the statements were published, another account claiming to be the official social media page of The Velvet Sundown stated that Frelon's activities had nothing to do with the band. "Someone is trying to impersonate The Velvet Sundown by giving interviews, posting photos, and creating fake profiles to supposedly represent us," the statement said.
The authors of the page said that someone calling himself Andrew Frelon was illegally speaking on behalf of The Velvet Sundown. The artificially created band complained that someone was impersonating them and stated that they were not acquainted with Frelon.
Around the same time, MusicRadar journalists received a letter to their editorial email address from the creators of The Velvet Sundown. In the letter, they claimed that multiple social media pages associated with Andrew Frelon were not related to the band. "Recently, there have been many accounts posting fabricated statements and images related to us," the authors of the music publication quoted from the text.
MusicRadar journalists believe that the letter they received was written by the creators of the artificial band. This theory is supported by the sender's email address, which matches the contact address listed on The Velvet Sundown's Spotify page.
The situation is absurd: the creator of a fictional band, whose work is generated by artificial intelligence, is complaining about fake news generated by another artificial intelligence. The MusicRadar authors suggest that the entire story about the band is a carefully planned joke intended to demonstrate the alarming consequences of using artificial intelligence in creativity for listeners, musicians, and the entire industry.
The current situation also raises an important question about the authorship and authenticity of creative works:
Meanwhile, as the project is discussed online, the AI group's Spotify audience alone has reached nearly 1.5 million listeners. The band's songs have received between 400,000 and 800,000 plays. The group's most popular song, "Dust in the Wind," has been played more than two million times. According to rough estimates, this could have earned the project's creators between $15,000 and $20,000.
In an interview with the BBC, Ed Newton-Rex, the head of Fairly Trained, a nonprofit organization that protects the rights of performers from generative AI, said that The Velvet Sundown's example was indicative of the entire industry. According to the rights activist, the band's popularity confirms musicians' fears about the effect of AI-generated music on real performers' income and popularity in the coming years.
MusicRadar sent numerous follow-up questions to the address from which they received the letter from The Velvet Sundown representatives. The journalists did not specify what questions were asked of the creators of the AI band. They noted that no one had contacted them using the provided contact details.
