AI News Monitor

A mysterious indie psych-rock band, The Velvet Sundown, has surged to over 850,000 Spotify listeners in just weeks, captivating the music industry while fueling intense speculation: Is this band real, or an elaborate artificial intelligence experiment?

Promoting itself as a group on a mission to “Save Modern Rock,” The Velvet Sundown has baffled even industry veterans. Its promotional images appear AI-generated, and its music—a hazy blend of retro psychedelia and modern production—has sparked debate over its authenticity.

Rick Beato, a prominent music producer and YouTuber, analyzed one of the band’s tracks and noted digital “artifacts” in the instrumentation, suggesting possible AI involvement. “Every time you have an AI song, they are full of artifacts,” he said in a video dissecting the track.

The band’s sudden rise underscores broader anxieties about AI’s role in art and culture. As generative AI floods platforms with synthetic content, The Velvet Sundown has become a flashpoint in the debate over authenticity.

According to its Spotify bio, the band consists of four members: singer Gabe Farrow, guitarist Lennie West, synth player Milo Rains, and percussionist Orion “Rio” Del Mar. Yet no verifiable interviews or live performances confirm their existence.

Deezer, a streaming service that flags AI-generated music, claims 100% of The Velvet Sundown’s tracks are AI-made. Meanwhile, the band has dismissed accusations of being fake, posting cryptically: “You believed the lie, and danced to it anyway.”

The mystery deepened when an individual claiming to represent the band called it an “art hoax” in Rolling Stone, only to later admit that claim was itself a fabrication.

As AI-generated music proliferates—with services like Suno and Udio enabling users to create full songs—artists like Kristian Heironimus of Velvet Meadow (no relation) express frustration. “It’s disheartening,” he said, comparing years of grinding to an AI act amassing half a million listeners in weeks.

For now, The Velvet Sundown remains an enigma: a viral sensation wrapped in digital ambiguity, forcing listeners to ask not just who made the music, but what.