The band Velvet Sundown became a sensation, gathering over a million streams on Spotify in just a few weeks, but it was later revealed that this band was entirely created using AI. Their songs, promotional materials, and even their story were generated using the Suno platform. Initially, the project participants denied that the band was an AI product, but under pressure from the facts, they confirmed that Velvet Sundown is “not quite human, not quite machine,” but something in between.
This case sparked a loud discussion about transparency and authorship in the music industry. Representatives of organizations such as Ivors Academy and the British Phonographic Industry are calling for mandatory labeling of AI-created tracks so that listeners can clearly understand the origin of the music. They emphasize that the absence of such labels deprives artists of control and fair compensation for the use of their works.
Critics highlight that independent musicians may lose compensation if their work is used to train AI without permission. Platforms like Deezer are already implementing systems to recognize and label AI-generated tracks, but Spotify has yet to mark such content, causing outrage among rights holders.
