AI in disguise? Music lovers angry at Spotify for promoting an allegedly fake band

The band addressed the claims via its X account.

Those who enjoy music and are looking for a new band might already have stumbled across The Velvet Sundown.

These four musicians stood out from others not only because they became popular on Spotify with almost 555,000 monthly listeners, but also because they might not be real people.

Despite Spotify verifying The Velvet Sundown, multiple clues show that the band may not exist in reality, and the songs it plays are actually the product of artificial intelligence.

Starting with their Spotify bio description, which doesn’t include many clear details about the band, except for the names of its four members.

“The band was formed by singer and mellotron player Gabe Farrow, guitarist Lennie West, Milo Rains, who crafts the band’s textured synth sounds, and free-spirited percussionist Orion 'Rio’ Del Mar,” states the description.

However, what’s even more interesting is that when I searched for these individuals on the internet, nothing much came up.

The band does have an Instagram account that seems to include pictures of band members. However, these pictures don’t look like they portray real people – they were simply generated by ChatGPT.

Let’s say that the people behind this band don’t want to show who they really are and just want to produce music.

Some red flags were also raised about the music the band plays. According to Spotify, “[t]heir sound mixes textures of '70s psychedelic alt-rock and folk rock, yet it blends effortlessly with modern alt-pop and indie structures.”

However, opinions that circulate online found these songs to be a mash-up of various other artists.

The band already has one album, with another one scheduled for release on the 14th of July.

TechRadar believes that its music was “written” by AI music creation tools. The singer’s voice varies in different songs, and each track seems to be rather generic, yet the music lacks cohesiveness.

The rise of The Velvet Sundown has started a discussion online, with many having no doubt that it’s the product of AI.

Some users said that the band's songs have been in Spotify’s “Discover Weekly,” with others noting that the streaming platform itself is pushing AI-generated content instead of “actual up-and-coming artists.”

This prompted other Redditors to share how their tracks have been rejected or taken down by Spotify.

“Spotify has been promoting its own fake ‘artists’ for a lot of generic playlists for a while now. Not surprised they're cutting out the musicians in their muzak in favor of AI,” wrote one netizen.

Considering that the band is “fake,” some users also questioned the number of monthly listeners and followers that The Velvet Sundown attracted.

“Anyone producing AI music to make money from will also be using bots to boost it,” wrote one user.

Last year, Spotify moved to demonetize songs that don’t reach a thousand streams a year. This, along with the fact that AI is also entering the industry, makes it even harder for some artists to earn a profit from their music.

AI-Generated Psych-Rock Band The Velvet Sundown Rack Up Hundreds Of Thousands Of Spotify Streams
byu/ebradio inindieheads

“Couldn’t even generate a name that didn’t sound like The Velvet Underground?” asked one user online.

“Spotify has a ‘Don’t play this artist’ feature, highly recommend using it,” shared another Redditor.

The band has reacted to the claims of being “AI-generated” on X, sharing that “Absolutely crazy that so-called ‘journalists’ keep pushing the lazy, baseless theory that The Velvet Sundown is ‘AI-generated’ with zero evidence.”

🚨 Absolutely crazy that so-called “journalists” keep pushing the lazy, baseless theory that The Velvet Sundown is “AI-generated” with zero evidence.

Not a single one of these undefinedwritersundefined has reached out, visited a show, or listened beyond the Spotify algorithm.

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undefined The Velvet Sundown (Band) 🎸🎶🎧 (@Velvet_Sundown) June 29, 2025

In the comments section, the band agreed to an interview with one of TechRadar’s journalists.

In the meantime, Deezer has flagged its tracks as AI-generated content, while Spotify and Apple Music haven’t indicated that yet.

Cybernews has reached out to the band for comment and will update with a response.