Spotify Under Pressure to Label AI Music After Velvet Sundown Success

The unprecedented success of the AI-generated band Velvet Sundown, which amassed over a million Spotify plays, has intensified pressure on streaming platforms to implement mandatory labeling for artificial intelligence-created music. The band’s rapid rise to popularity, followed by the revelation of their AI origins, has ignited a critical debate within the music industry about transparency and the future of human artistry.
The Velvet Sundown, initially presenting as a human band and releasing two successful country-folk albums, was later exposed as an AI creation utilizing the Suno platform. This admission, after initial denials, has highlighted a significant gap in current streaming regulations. Music industry leaders are now asserting that consumers have a right to know whether the music they are listening to was created by humans or by algorithms.
Organizations such as the Ivors Academy and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) are at the forefront of this movement, advocating for legal obligations that would compel streaming services to clearly identify AI-generated content. They argue that without such measures, there are profound implications for authorship, consent, and fair compensation for human creators whose work might be used without authorization to train AI models.
The controversy around Velvet Sundown mirrors earlier concerns about ghost artists and the unauthorized use of vocal likenesses, as seen in the case of AI-generated tracks falsely attributed to Drake and The Weeknd. As AI technology continues to advance, the demand for robust legal frameworks and transparent labeling grows louder, aiming to ensure that AI serves as a tool to enhance human creativity rather than to supplant it, and that creators are fairly remunerated.