🎸 Velvet Sundown and the AI Music Scam That Fooled Spotify
- NewBits Media
- Jul 6
- 3 min read
Remember The Velvet Sundown — the “indie rock band” that insisted it wasn’t AI-generated, accused journalists of fabricating evidence, and somehow racked up over 500,000 Spotify listeners?
Well... turns out, it was AI. All of it.
In a bizarre but unsurprising twist, the creator — who goes by Andrew Frelon — finally confessed to Rolling Stone:
“It’s marketing. It’s trolling. It’s an art hoax.”
The band never existed. The music was AI-generated using Suno, the band members were fictional, and the backstory was written by a chatbot. Yet somehow, it went viral, landed on major playlists, and earned royalties — all while denying it was AI. The hoax now stands as one of the most visible examples of an AI music scam infiltrating mainstream platforms.
🤖 AI-Generated Sound. Real Royalties.
Frelon claims he wasn’t running the backend of the Spotify operation, but the band did receive traction thanks to algorithmic playlist placements. According to him:
“We got on some playlists that just have tons of followers, and it seems to have spiraled from there.”
Despite clearly using an AI music generator, Frelon shrugged off the criticism, framing the whole thing as performance art — or at least, a social commentary.
“We live in a world now where things that are fake have sometimes even more impact than things that are real,” he told Rolling Stone. “And that’s messed up, but that’s the reality we face now.”
🎤 Artists Aren’t Laughing
While Frelon might be smirking, real musicians aren’t. The incident reignites long-simmering outrage about the flood of AI-generated music on streaming platforms. With streaming royalties already razor-thin for most human artists, the idea that a fake band can game the system — and collect checks — is infuriating.
“This undermines the entire economy of music,” said one critic on X...This isn’t trolling. It’s theft with a punchline.”
🧪 Spotify’s Silent Approval?
Platforms like Spotify have been flooded with low-effort, AI-generated content in recent months. And the incentive to stop it?
Basically zero.
“Most fake bands won’t be successful,” said Glenn McDonald, former Spotify data scientist...But there are no protections against it happening. And from Spotify’s business POV, it’s not even clear this is a bad thing.”
In other words: Spotify doesn’t really care who makes the music — as long as people click "play."
🚨 The AI Music Scam Is Bigger Than One Hoax
This isn’t just about one fake band. It’s a flashing red light for the music industry:
AI is already clogging streaming platforms with generic, high-volume content.
Human artists are getting squeezed out of discovery algorithms.
Platforms lack transparency or accountability for what content is human-made.
And now, AI-generated “artists” can fake their way to half a million streams and major press — under false pretenses.
The AI music scam pulled off by Velvet Sundown is no longer a joke — it’s a preview of what’s coming.
🎭 Final Riff
Frelon may think he staged a clever art hoax, but the real trick is on artists. The Velvet Sundown saga shows just how easy it is to game the system — and how unprepared the music industry is for the AI era.
It’s not just a marketing stunt. It’s a warning shot.
🎧 Stay tuned for more on how AI is disrupting the music scene — from lawsuits to fake Grammys to Spotify’s AI arms race. The line between creator and code just got a whole lot blurrier.
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