The Velvet Sundown: GenAI Band Reaches Remarkable Milestone While Challenging Music Norms
The music landscape is witnessing a fascinating evolution with The Velvet Sundown, a GenAI band that has reached an impressive milestone of 1.1 million monthly listeners on Spotify. This surge, up from 325,000 in just over a week, is a testament to the intriguing interplay between technology and creativity. The band’s newly updated Spotify bio discards previous subterfuge and clearly states its identity: a synthetic music project driven by human direction but composed, voiced, and visualized through artificial intelligence. This candid approach invites industry professionals to reconsider the traditional boundaries of authorship and authenticity in music production. While the band capitalizes on this transparent narrative, a touch of confusion persists with multiple tracks surfacing under The Velvet Sundown’s name, coupled with human contributor credits like Jake Harrow and Miles Calder on tracks like ‘Cardboard Sky.’ The essence of their success hinges on curiosity-driven plays rather than a solidified fanbase; data shows only 35,000 have actively chosen to follow the profile. The situation highlights a broader discussion in the music industry about sustainable engagement in AI-generated music, spotlighting how digital service providers (DSPs) and distribution platforms will adapt to burgeoning GenAI content. This narrative is mirrored in phenomena such as the Netflix series KPop Demon Hunters, where virtual artists, Huntr/X and Saja Boys, are climbing global music charts, redefining how virtual creations can capture public attention. As SONGLENS continues to observe and document these pioneering shifts within the industry, one thing remains certain — the path ahead for AI in music is both uncharted and ripe with potential for dynamic exploration and debate among music curators and tastemakers. The evolution of such virtual entities underlines the necessity for platforms like SONGLENS to lead the charge in meaningful music discovery and curation-first values. As GenAI bands continue to gain traction and redefine musical landscapes, the music industry is compelled to rethink its response to the AI-driven future, ensuring that both creativity and curation hold paramount importance in connecting artists with listeners worldwide.
