13 AI artists with millions of streams reveal the music industry’s biggest vulnerability

Key Highlights:

• AI band The Velvet Sundown gained 550,000 monthly Spotify listeners in under a month with zero real-world presence
• Investigation reveals 13 AI artists collectively drawing 4.1 million monthly streams, with some earning verified status
• Most listeners don’t realize they’re streaming fake music, creating revenue drain from human artists

A psych-rock band that doesn’t exist just proved AI music has infiltrated mainstream streaming. The Velvet Sundown appeared on Spotify in early June with two albums and zero digital footprint, yet somehow accumulated over 550,000 monthly listeners by July.

Their most popular track hit nearly 500,000 streams, but close listening to the other tracks reveals the smoking gun: the vocalist’s “color” changes dramatically between songs, with no consistency in vocal performance across recordings.

Reddit users first spotted the deception when tracks like “Dust on the Wind” appeared in Discover Weekly playlists. The four “members” – vocalist Gabe Farrow, guitarist Lennie West, bassist Milo Rains, and drummer Rio Del Mar – exist only as AI-generated photos posted to an Instagram account created June 27.

This flood of synthetic content exposes streaming platforms’ vulnerability to AI manipulation. With Deezer reporting 20,000 AI tracks submitted daily – comprising 10% of uploads – and potential monthly earnings of thousands of dollars per fake AI artist, the economic incentives are clear

Music Business Worldwide’s Tim Ingham uncovered this represents a massive pattern, identifying 13 AI artists collectively drawing 4.1 million monthly streams. Country act Aventhis leads with over one million listeners, while rock band The Devil Inside boasts 700,000 listeners and sells real merchandise for fake members.

The uncomfortable truth: most listeners don’t care if it’s AI. As long as the music fits their playlist, they’ll keep streaming, creating a revenue drain from human artists who need those royalties to survive.