The Velvet Sundown: Maybe/definitely your new favourite AI band

A previously unheard-of band has gone viral, sparking a debate about whether or not the artists are AI, which is either a testament to the quality of the technology or merely reflects how generic new music sounds (apologies, my Gen X is showing).

Most people do indeed believe the band, called The Velvet Sundown, is an AI creation. Others suggest it's a hoax, a piece of public performance art in its own right, or elaborate marketing for some soon-to-be-revealed real human band.

Regardless, the band's music has now racked up more than 850,000 streams over the past month.

Then there's the not entirely clear sideshow of a pseudonymous and purported representative of 'the band' named “Andrew Frelon” who claimed that the band was indeed built using AI, via the music platform Suno.

Other posts and other trends in social media posts make counter-claims, further obscuring fact from fiction (and could all be intended to be part of the spectacle).

The band's remarkable productivity - releasing three albums in five weeks - is perhaps red flag, leaving many in the audience convinced that Velvent Sundown is 'fake'.

Similarly, there's the fact any pictures of the band certainly appear AI-made.

Or, maybe, another 'tell' is that despite the apparent prolific run of music production, there's a distinct lack evidence of live shows, real world interviews, or public profiles.

Music service Deezer weighed in, on its platform flagging the content as 'AI-generated, but Spotify and Apple Music had not.

Dezzer, the music streaming app, used its technology to analyse the audio, and did in fact label the music as AI-content.

A sign of the times

The Velvet Sundown's overnight 'success' - or at least curiosity - likely won't be the last.

While companies like Deezer have implemented detection filters, the Velvet Sundown case highlights how generative audio may soon take over, at least for some of the audience.

And, the events of the week reignited calls for clearer transparency in how AI content is presented and labelled.