A sound clip has been all over my “for you” page recently. Presented as an upbeat chanting choral piece, this viral sound clip is actually an AI. I couldn’t tell when I first heard it, and I bet neither could you. An AI cover of Belgian artist Stromae’s Papaoutai has blown up online and has been streamed almost 70 million times on Spotify under the name Papaoutai – Afro Soul.
AI-generated content has been popping up everywhere online. It is usually easy to spot the difference when it’s a video or a photo, but AI in music is proving harder to spot. A recent survey from Deezer and Ipsos showed that 97% of listeners couldn’t correctly identify music made with AI. That is basically everyone!
Now, big music streaming companies, like Spotify, have stated that they are working to address the presence of AI music on their platforms, but so far, I think those protocols are lacking. Spotify claims that music using AI will be labeled. However, when looking at the page for The Velvet Sundown, a band that pretty much everyone agrees is AI, no labels are shown.
The origins of this band are pretty unclear— the fact that it isn’t real definitely plays a big role in that. It was only discovered that the band was AI after fans began to realize that the “members” lacked a digital footprint. It is common practice across the music industry for artists and bands to have social media pages to promote and connect with fans. Pictures of the band members also show hallmark signs of being AI-generated. Their music was also run through multiple AI detectors and was consistently flagged.
So, despite the consensus that The Velvet Sundown is an AI band, why has Spotify not labeled them as such? Right now, it seems like the AI labeling works on somewhat of an honor system, where artists or bands can voluntarily disclose that they used AI to create or edit their music. That means there is nothing really stopping AI bands and artists from being prompted as real, outside of one’s word.
And so far, people are definitely abusing that system. Sienna Rose is a rising R&B artist with a heartfelt backstory and a strong social media presence, so she must be a real person, right? Wrong! Sienna Rose is an AI creation of Nostalgic Records, who are also behind city-pop artist Toji and indie artist Dani Perez. Nostalgic Records is expected to make millions off of songs from these “artists,” which will only encourage others to do the same.
This whole situation is deceptive to its core. Why does an AI artist, a person that doesn’t exist, need a social media page full of fake videos and photos? What purpose does that serve except to trick people into believing they are a real person? I don’t know about you, but personally, I would rather support real people over AI.
I am sure that there is a time and place for AI, but not as a replacement for artists. Creating art and music are integral parts of the human experience, and outsourcing that to AI should make you feel disturbed. How far will this go? Will AI bands and artists start winning awards for these songs? With AI-generated music now making up nearly “40% of music uploaded to streaming services daily,” real changes need to be made in the way these songs are presented on these platforms.
