Is The Music Industry Doomed?

How a fake AI band got a million monthly listeners in less than a month

In less than a month, a band that doesn’t exist has accomplished what millions of real musicians spend years trying to achieve.

I am, of course, talking about The Velvet Sundown, an AI-generated band that has amassed over a million monthly listeners on Spotify.

Here’s what happened:

On June 5th, an album titled Floating on Echoes was released onto streaming platforms by a band called The Velvet Sundown. The music itself is laid-back, blending psychedelic roots rock with a sound that falls somewhere between Creedence Clearwater Revival and Khruangbin. Then, two weeks later, a second album was added titled Dust and Silence. There was no major marketing stunt or advertising budget put behind the music, but because it fit neatly into a specific genre and mood, Spotify’s algorithm started feeding songs from the albums to people who were listening to similar music.

With a little bit of traction, the creators of The Velvet Sundown decided it was time to make an Instagram account, uploading roughly a dozen AI-generated images of the band members—in the studio, at the movies, in the car, and even at the bowling alley. To date, the Instagram account only has about 1,718 followers, but I suspect it will continue to grow.

We’ve seen digital influencers become popular before, most notably with accounts like @lilmiquela. So this is nothing new. But what’s different is that this is the first time I’ve seen AI-generated music blend so seamlessly into the Spotify algorithm, and the first time that a significant number of people probably didn’t even realize what they were listening to was AI-generated.

The music industry has officially hit a tipping point. Music created by humans is now competing directly with music created by AI.

All around, people are sounding the alarm, insisting that the music industry—and creative fields at large—are headed for extinction. But is that really true? Or are we just witnessing the beginning of a new era, one that challenges what we value in art and who gets to make it?

Let’s take a closer look.

NEW CONSPIRACY THEORY JUST DROPPED

We’re entering an era where art is truly democratized. Anyone with a laptop and a bit of curiosity can now create passable music, videos, images, and more. There’s no longer any gatekeepers to creativity.

The truth is, it’s remarkably easy to do what the creator of The Velvet Sundown did. In a recent explainer video, YouTuber Matt Wolfe demonstrated the whole process: composing songs with Suno, generating band images in ChatGPT, and uploading everything to Spotify through DistroKid. And he did it all in under half an hour.

Toward the end of the video, he brings up a “conspiracy theory” that’s been circulating about this AI band: some people believe Spotify itself is behind the project. The idea is that if Spotify can get listeners hooked on AI-generated music, they’ll no longer need to pay royalties to real artists, since there are no real people to compensate. This has sparked concern that Spotify might flood its platform with AI music, knowing that most listeners won’t notice or care who or what made the songs.

Spotify has built its entire platform around lean-back, passive listening. Instead of embracing the culture of superfandom (i.e., adding features that let fans dive deeper into their favorite artists), they’ve turned music into something that simply fades into the background. Most people just put on a playlist or a mood-based mix and let the algorithm take over. Music becomes a kind of audio wallpaper, a gentle backdrop meant to slightly elevate the atmosphere.

But do I think Spotify is behind The Velvet Sundown?

Absolutely not. This feels more like the work of a curious individual experimenting with new tools. But it does set a troubling precedent: if AI music can gain traction in Spotify’s algorithm without listeners even noticing, what’s to stop Spotify from quietly filling its platform with even more AI-generated tracks?

“GOOD ENOUGH” IS USUALLY ENOUGH

Most people aren’t what I’d call “creatives.” At least, not in the sense of making art, either professionally or as a hobby. Of course, everyone has the capacity for creativity, whether that’s building a business or solving problems in daily life. But when it comes to art, a lot of people simply don’t spend much time making it. Because of that, it’s genuinely hard for most to distinguish what’s technically authentic from what isn’t.

For me, it’s a bit like going to a high-end restaurant. I can tell the food is delicious, but I don’t really understand what makes it great. I don’t know which ingredients are doing the heavy lifting, or which techniques brought it all together. All I know is that it tastes good, and that’s enough.

We can’t all be experts in everything.

Derek Guy, a menswear fashion expert that I follow on X, captured this question perfectly in a recent post about The Velvet Sundown:

When I listen to The Velvet Sundown, I can tell right away that it’s AI-generated. But then again, I’m obsessive about music. I have a degree from Berklee College of Music and have spent years picking apart songs in a way most people never would or would want to.

In the end, I don’t think most people care whether something is AI-generated or not, as long as it clears a basic bar for being “good.” And of course, “good” is a moving target; it’s entirely subjective, shaped by mood, nostalgia, or even curiosity. Some listeners might even come to prefer the unique, sometimes uncanny sound of AI-generated music over human-made tracks.

So if the question of “real” versus “artificial” doesn’t matter much to most people, what does? What is it that actually makes us connect with art?

THE LAST TRUE DIFFERENTIATOR

There’s one thing people always care about: a good story.

In a world where anyone—human or AI—can make art, storytelling and branding become the most important ways to stand out.

It’s hard not to bring up Taylor Swift when talking about music storytelling and branding. She’s essentially the gold standard. Her entire career is built on narrative: from country sweetheart to pop superstar to indie-folk storyteller. Every album, every move, is crafted to have its own visual identity, storyline, and mythology. She drops Easter eggs and hidden meanings for fans to unravel, which creates even deeper speculation and engagement. Even her re-recording project (“Taylor’s Version”) is a masterclass in narrative control; by recently reclaiming the rights to her masters, she’s positioned herself as the hero of her own story.

The point is: the same narrative instincts that matter now will matter even more in a future that’s crowded with AI-generated work. When everyone has access to the same creative tools, the only thing left to set you apart is the story you tell and how you tell it.

Take The Velvet Sundown. The reason it made headlines wasn’t just the music. It’s because there was a good story behind it: it’s the first AI-generated band to rack up millions of streams. But what happens when there are thousands, or millions, of AI bands? That narrative quickly loses its novelty, and suddenly, it’s not enough.

Even as a human artist in the traditional music landscape, you still have to master the art of storytelling and connection if you want to build an audience that cares about your work, especially when you’re competing with countless others trying to do the same.

Just this week, a friend sent me an AI-generated ad made entirely with Google’s Veo 3 video model. It was the first AI-generated ad I’ve seen that was genuinely funny and better than a lot of other real ads out there. And what made it so good? It wasn’t the technology, it was the storytelling.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

So is the music industry doomed?

That depends on what happens next. If Spotify and other platforms flood their libraries with AI-generated tracks, sidelining human artists in pursuit of profit, then yes, the industry as we know it could be in real trouble. But even in that scenario, there will always be a core of listeners who crave more than background noise. There will always be fans who want to dive deep, who want to connect with artists, stories, and meaning.

I suspect we’re heading toward a split: one side of music will exist purely for passive consumption, algorithmically curated and endlessly replenished. The other will be for the active listener, the ones who seek out stories, who want to belong, who want to attend live shows, and who care about where the art comes from and why it matters.

If you’re an artist, this is your call to arms. Spend as much time honing your story and building your brand as you do making your music. Learn how to connect, how to resonate, how to matter. Because in a world where anyone can make a song, the only thing left that can’t be faked is the story behind it.

It might be the only thing that saves you—and the industry itself.

---