Spotify briefly listed a mysterious AI-generated EDM album, Crazy Sheep, on Anthrax’s page, baffling fans and sparking fears of fake streams and algorithmic artists.
For a few hours on Monday, Spotify showed what looked like a new Anthrax album credited to an unfamiliar name – El Director.
What came through was clattering EDM (electronic dance music), a far cry from the thrash metal Anthrax is known for.
By the end of the day, the album had disappeared from the platform without comment.
Shrewd listeners spotted the release, though the band has yet to say anything about it.
Ghosts of Spotify
El Director has released nine albums since last year, all with covers that look algorithmic.
One member, Kraft Panzer, exists nowhere except on streaming sites.
It looks like another entry in the growing catalog of ghostlike, AI-driven profiles.
Complaints about fake streams and chart manipulation have been around for years:
In August, hip-hop star Young Thug was accused of burning $50,000 on fake streams to lift Gunna’s album above global superstar The Wknd’s album that week.
Even minor acts such as The Velvet Sundown somehow pull large Spotify numbers while barely existing elsewhere.
In this case, the fake upload didn’t just float around the platform – it turned up on Anthrax’s own page.
Listeners now face the problem of not knowing if a stream supports the band or an algorithm. The questions around rights and royalties remain unresolved.
If Spotify doesn’t get stricter about screening, it could lose its credibility – and artists’ confidence.
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