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AI Music

Music Insiders Call for Warning Labels After AI-Generated Band Gets 1 Million Plays On Spotify 156

Bruce66423 shares a report from The Guardian: They went viral, amassing more than 1m streams on Spotify in a matter of weeks, but it later emerged that hot new band the Velvet Sundown were AI-generated -- right down to their music, promotional images and backstory. The episode has triggered a debate about authenticity, with music industry insiders saying streaming sites should be legally obliged to tag music created by AI-generated acts so consumers can make informed decisions about what they are listening to. [...]

Several figures told the Guardian that the present situation, where streaming sites, including Spotify, are under no legal obligation to identify AI-generated music, left consumers unaware of the origins of the songs they're listening to. Roberto Neri, the chief executive of the Ivors Academy, said: "AI-generated bands like Velvet Sundown that are reaching big audiences without involving human creators raise serious concerns around transparency, authorship and consent." Neri added that if "used ethically," AI has the potential to enhance songwriting, but said at present his organization was concerned with what he called "deeply troubling issues" with the use of AI in music.

Sophie Jones, the chief strategy officer at the music trade body the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), backed calls for clear labelling. "We believe that AI should be used to serve human creativity, not supplant it," said Jones. "That's why we're calling on the UK government to protect copyright and introduce new transparency obligations for AI companies so that music rights can be licensed and enforced, as well as calling for the clear labelling of content solely generated by AI."

Liz Pelly, the author of Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist, said independent artists could be exploited by people behind AI bands who might create tracks that are trained using their music. She referred to the 2023 case of a song that was uploaded to TikTok, Spotify and YouTube, which used AI-generated vocals claiming to be the Weeknd and Drake. Universal Music Group said the song was "infringing content created with generative AI" and it was removed shortly after it was uploaded.

Aurelien Herault, the chief innovation officer at the music streaming service Deezer, said the company uses detection software that identifies AI-generated tracks and tags them. He said: "For the moment, I think platforms need to be transparent and try to inform users. For a period of time, what I call the "naturalization of AI', we need to inform users when it's used or not." Herault did not rule out removing tagging in future if AI-generated music becomes more popular and musicians begin to use it like an "instrument." At present, Spotify does not label music as AI-generated and has previously been criticized for populating some playlists with music by "ghost artists" -- fake acts that create stock music.
Bruce66423 comments: "Artists demand 'a warning' on such material. Why? If it is what the people want..."

Music Insiders Call for Warning Labels After AI-Generated Band Gets 1 Million Plays On Spotify

Comments Filter:
  • How it's made (Score:5, Interesting)

    by fjo3 ( 1399739 ) on Tuesday July 15, 2025 @11:33PM (#65523810)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com] This is an excellent and mostly to the point demonstration of just how simple it is to generate AI slop that would not sound at all out of place on a top 40 radio station.
    • No no no,we want our empty-headed drivel supplied only by humans.
    • I was prepared to get rickrolled, but no, this site has been losing it.:-)

  • So when an algorithm copies a rift or cord progression, who does the copyright holder of the original content sue? The streaming service? The creator of the algorithm who was trained on their content?
    • by dfghjk ( 711126 )

      the answer is everyone who has money gets sued. Guilt is proportional to wealth.

    • It's likely near impossible to sue someone over a riff or chord progression since there's a large library of recorded music and sheet music that likely covers anything our ears and brains would consider "musical" enough to want to listen to more than once. As an example is "Four Chords" from Axis of Awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

      This theme on nothing new in music was played with in a scene from Mr. Holland's Opus: (I'm too lazy to search for a YouTube clip, it's likely out there somewhere if yo

    • So when an algorithm copies a rift or cord progression, who does the copyright holder of the original content sue? The streaming service? The creator of the algorithm who was trained on their content?

      When a human rips off music, do you sue the guitar maker? The string maker? The recording studio? Let’s not get pointless in focus here. The fucking lawyers are already drooling enough.

      IMHO if someone claims ownership rights over anything that creates music then they had better learn to put a fucking leash on it. And when AI is smart enough to create music from nothing, it’ll be smart enough to beat every lawyer anyway.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 16, 2025 @12:07AM (#65523838)
    Autotune is just as bad, they defraud people thinking the singers have good voices. Looks like the music coalition only cares if they aren't in control of making most of the money.

    cue an AI generated sound of the world's smallest violin.

    - true music is meant to be shared with and taught to others. at least Happy Birthday is free.
    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by thegarbz ( 1787294 )

      No it's not. Autotune is nothing more than a minor correction. There's still some element of human creativity underneath, even if that creativity is limited to tune and lyrics and not singing ability.

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        It can be minor, but it can also take someone singing completely out of tune and turn it into something passable. There was a leaked recording of the original Paris Hilton session some years ago, and she may actually be tone deaf, it's that bad. The released track is pitch perfect and sounds like a professional, if uninspired, singer.

    • at least Happy Birthday is free.

      It might be free NOW, but it is also dead. I have not heard anyone singing it in years at birthday parties. Fuck Sony, Fuck copyright. Fuck greed. And fuck all of the people who played along.

    • And sampling. And electronic drums. And keyboards vs a piano or an entire orchestra for that matter. Technology always threatens someone's gravy train.

  • by ctilsie242 ( 4841247 ) on Wednesday July 16, 2025 @12:07AM (#65523840)

    I wonder if a number of the people are mad because they were not the first ones to do this, and someone else beat them to the punch. I wouldn't be surprised if AI is the ultimate thing that large record labels want. No musicians that might not show up, or bring drama, no contracts to sign, unlimited records, feeding back responses to keep tuning albums, etc.

    The only thing they don't have are live people for stage acts... but I wouldn't be surprised if holograms or even animatronics would wind up being used for this eventually.

    Vote with your wallets, and frequent artists on Bandcamp is what I recommend.

    • There is not a lot of money to be made in Spotify plays for anyone except for the owners of Spotify.

      The music industry trades in celebrity. You don't listen to crappy pop music because it's good you listen to it because you're excited by the celebrity.

      If you take that away all you're left with is the music which is just background noise to most people. That's not enough to sustain the industry at the profit levels that publicly traded companies require. They'll get eating alive by their shareholders
    • I wonder if a number of the people are mad because they were not the first ones to do this, and someone else beat them to the punch. I wouldn't be surprised if AI is the ultimate thing that large record labels want. No musicians that might not show up, or bring drama, no contracts to sign, unlimited records, feeding back responses to keep tuning albums, etc.

      The only thing they don't have are live people for stage acts... but I wouldn't be surprised if holograms or even animatronics would wind up being used for this eventually.

      Even Michael Jackson or Elvis would struggle to fill stadiums with the kind of revenue that is needed to justify “live” digital entertainment. Who the hell is gonna pay hundreds to see a hologram? If tens of thousands of fans are going to overflow venues and get crushed to death for that shit, then we need to raise prices about 900% more for “live” entertainers. Clearly there’s WAY more money to be made off Stupid.

      • by HiThere ( 15173 )

        It's my understanding that hologram rock stars are very popular in Japan, though perhaps that was just a decade ago.

    • There are comments that there is no artistry in this, but that's not true.

      The company involved (Suno [suno.com]) did quite a bit of work fine-tuning their AI to make sure the output is generally listenable. That's not straightforward, and you're not going to get it just by loading a ton of songs into a random neural network and taking whatever comes out.

      Unfortunately, it also means that they are limited to a fairly narrow set of song styles, and if you listen to them they all sound similar. You can massage it to
  • Song writers too (Score:4, Insightful)

    by LostMyBeaver ( 1226054 ) on Wednesday July 16, 2025 @12:26AM (#65523862)
    If an artist uses a song writer, has plastic surgery, uses musical instruments... They should all have to disclose this.

    Velvet Sundown is no different than when a studio assembles a group of four boys, pays songwriters, dance choreographers, makeup artists, musicians, etc...

    An artist sat down, used AI as an instrument and made music.
    • by mjwx ( 966435 )

      If an artist uses a song writer, has plastic surgery, uses musical instruments... They should all have to disclose this.

      Velvet Sundown is no different than when a studio assembles a group of four boys, pays songwriters, dance choreographers, makeup artists, musicians, etc...

      An artist sat down, used AI as an instrument and made music.

      I've long stopped considering electronic music to be music because a computer is not an instrument.

      The music industry has loved this kind of thing because musical instruments require talent to play, especially to play well which gives the artist a large mesure of power over their own destiny, rights, a voice... things that music execs hate because they can use that to get more of their precious, sweet, sweet profit.

      A "DJ" or rapper can be replaced easily as they don't have any actual talent. Doubly so

      • by HiThere ( 15173 )

        That's a weird way to think about things. A computer can definitely be an instrument, but instruments aren't the essence of music anyway.

        The essence of music is how the listener reacts when hearing it. Period.

      • Execs really dug their own grave by making music so drab, boring, repetitive and especially by removing all requirement for any kind of musical talent

        But musicians who actually have talent, and tens of thousands of hours of practice and hard work, and play in one of the country's symphony orchestras are struggling to find an audience. Most major symphonies are struggling to make ends meet, many have cut hours and pay, some have even closed. And they play newly-composed music, too, it's not like they sit around playing Bach over and over again. But most people just aren't interested.

    • An artist sat down, used AI as an instrument and made music.

      Nope, you missed the point. An artists sat down, used AI as an instrument and made music, then claimed that a different instrument was made, and that a whole group of people were involved. Even the artist's picture was a fake.

      You can do and sell what you want, just don't pretend it's something different.

  • People like shitty mindless tunes with a predictable beat, catchy hook, and familiar sound. The music industry has been doing this for 80 years now. There are too many artists with stories who had been turned down by execs because their music didnt fit the mold. Now people are so used to the mold thats comfortable and familiar they cant distinguish it from anything else. So what.
    • by dvice ( 6309704 ) on Wednesday July 16, 2025 @01:45AM (#65523956)

      According to studies, when people don't know who the artist is, people prefer music made by AI. If people know that other music was made by AI, people prefer human made music. And this includes also classical music and people even think that AI made classical music sounds more like the original author it imitates than what the original music actually is. Humans have absolutely no way to beat AI in music in blindfolded tests.

      So whether you have to reveal that music is made by AI or not, will pretty much dictate if your music is a hit or a flop.

  • No it doesn't (Score:5, Insightful)

    by henrik stigell ( 6146516 ) on Wednesday July 16, 2025 @01:18AM (#65523930) Homepage

    "AI-generated bands like Velvet Sundown that are reaching big audiences without involving human creators raise serious concerns around transparency, authorship and consent."

    No it doesn't. None of these factors are relevant for why someone decides to listen to music.

    Consent? Was someone forced to listen to Velvet Sundown?

    This is just simple rent seeking from music industry insiders.

  • by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Wednesday July 16, 2025 @02:30AM (#65524004)

    I mean, did a million people really search out Velvet Sundown, or did Spotify just inject the songs into a million people's streams? The article doesn't really say, one way or the other.

  • Since humans have to say a song is a cover etc, why shouldn't you say it is AI generation?

    If the AI had been fed Katy Perry - Dark Horse as training material, what then?

  • by pele ( 151312 )

    Just maybe - also tag music that was written and/or composed under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Tag music whose "artists" were convicted of offences. Tag music that has been stolen and/or modified.
    Tag all sorts of shit.
    Or don't. If AI does it better than puf piffy then great! Less money for puf piffy and slut slutty to spend on their yachts, or? The ai developer gets rewarded instead.

  • Lol. If it slaps it slaps. Same shit when synths came up
  • Maybe some big artists should decamp from Spotify and form their own platform. Or at least withdraw their services from any platform that undermines artistry by platforming a) AI generated music, b) sound-a-likes, c) in-house covers / generic muzak.
  • Music Insiders Call for Warning Labels..

    Oh, so the “Insiders” are suddenly concerned? Sounds suspiciously like middle-earth cube farmers bitching to create RTW mandates, because middle-earth cube farmers.

    Shocking how most don’t give a damn about those who have perpetuated a bullshit job for years now.

  • Human connections (Score:4, Insightful)

    by fluffernutter ( 1411889 ) on Wednesday July 16, 2025 @06:29AM (#65524162)
    I can't really read these comments because it amazes me how dead people are inside. There is music that is full of human spirit and culture and there is AI slop mimicking it. I sincerely hope the AI slop is just being played in the background like elevator music, because if that is what people prefer than it will just take the human connection out of music.
    • Sad but true. We're headed for the same place as the rest of commercial AI, with all the know how encoded in the models and no one left to teach it anything. As others have pointed out, here, the current state of factory farmed commercial music using beat makers, top liners, and autotune, we are nearly there anyways. Also sad... but it's where we are. I'm of the impression that the consuming public has close to no discrimination what they are being served, and will consume the slop. Like going to a grocery
      • Even in electronic music there are good things to be found. For example, Daft Punk's mixing with a symphony orchestra for the Tron 2 soundtrack. My rule is that I won't listen to any music in which the drum beat sounds like a galloping horse. It happens a lot.
    • There is music that is full of human spirit and culture and there is AI slop mimicking it.

      Where is the music that is full of human spirit and culture? I have the classics stored, but where is the new stuff? As someone sagely commented above, the AI music is indistinguishable from a top 10 radio station.

      • Yeah, I think every generation thinks this.

        But honestly, if you haven't found anything full of human spirit and culture, that's probably on you. There's still tonnes of original music made by indie bands out there. Go looking for modern punk/reggae/ska bands that are writing protest songs. Maybe explore some of the culture of other continents--I've heard that French African music is undergoing a bit of a renaissance (and there are plenty of European french people lowkey mad about it because they never like

    • I don't think that I have ever listed to music and felt a connection to the band. The music, itself, makes me feel something, which could lead to connections with present humans. But I think that I would feel the same way no matter who, or what, the artist is.

      I mean, I don't listen to a live cover of a Fleetwood Mac song and think of Stevie Nicks, necessarily, and I certainly don't feel any kind of connection with her. I just feel the music itself and think about meaningful moments in my life where I heard

  • I know that people like to use the word "toxic" a lot, but in this case I don't think it's literal guys ...
  • Since the courts have said that you can't claim copyright on AI-genned art, doesn't that mean that Velvet Sundown songs are now public domain? (Prior art and plagiarism excepting...)

    • by allo ( 1728082 )

      If they are publishes AS-IS after generation, they are not copyrighted. If artist did something with them (cutting, changing pitch, loudness, whatever musicians do) it is copyrighed, while the unedited version is still free of copyright, but you probably don't have access to the original.

  • If the music is appealing and people like it, why does it matter how it was made?

    Sounds like anger over having years of practice and skill in competition with a faster method.

  • How about warnings for songs that are real people with crappy voices just using autotune and high number of followers to get on the air?
  • ...why? Because you have used an electronic synthesiser to generate sound you cannot really produce with an instrument!
    Uhm but the synthesiser is the instrument!
    But you're using a computer and drum machine to create these sounds. You're really not even a sound engineer. I bet you can't even play the guitar!
    Once upon a time rock n'roll was the work of the devil, electric guitar was not real music. Electronic music was considered to be void of artists. Dub step was a talentless pool of electronic and co
  • Will AI generated music damage my ears?
    If I like a song, it doesn't really matter if someone recorded it, generated it, or handcrafted the ones and zeros in the mp3 file.

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