AI band, The Velvet Sundown, “Not Quite Human. Not Quite Machine:” All You Need To Know

AI band, The Velvet Sundown, launched their Debut Album, Floating on Echoes, on June 5th, 2025. Since then, they have garnered over one million streams with their most popular song, "Dust on the Wind," also surpassing one million streams, reaching #1 on Spotify’s Viral 50 in Britain, Norway, and Sweden between June 29th and July 1st.

Following the release of Floating on Echoes, their second album, Dust and Silence, was released only 14 days later, on June 19th, and July 14th, their third, Paper Sun Rebellion, was released.

Who is The Velvet Sundown?

The Velvet Sundown is an AI band causing concerns and controversy all around the world. Their music can be found across streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Deezer. According to The Velvet Sundown’s Spotify Bio, they describe themselves as a "synthetic music project guided by human creative direction, and composed, voiced, and visualized with the support of artificial intelligence." Adding that the band was "designed to challenge the boundaries of authorship, identity, and the future of music itself in the age of AI… Not quite human. Not quite machine. The Velvet Sundown lives somewhere in between."

The Velvet Sundown vs. Velvet Sundown

A separate AI band, Velvet Sundown, without "the" in its name, is also putting out releases. Velvet Sundown’s first single, "Painted Horizon," was released on July 4th, followed by their latest single, "Back in the Day," being released on their YouTube Topics Page on July 11th. Despite allegedly being two "different" bands, there are many similarities between the two. Because the names are nearly identical, their International Standard Recording Codes (ISRCs), which act as a digital fingerprint for a sound recording or music video, are getting mixed up on DSPs. 

According to Velvet Sundown’s Spotify Bio, they are a trio with singer Jake Harrow, guitarist Miles "Sunny" Calder, bassist Theo Jackson, and their "talented hired drummer, Marcus "Species" Ellison" sharing that "the band recently faced a bizarre controversy when an AI-generated group, similarly named "The Velvet Sundown," emerged overnight, mimicking their music and image with uncanny precision." Adding that the AI band The Velvet Sundown’s success "sparked outrage and legal battles." While this sort of issue is unprecedented, it will be interesting to see what will happen in the future with this band and AI across the industry.

Social Media

On Spotify, The Velvet Sundown lists their Instagram as @thevelvetsundownmusic, but with The Velvet Sundown’s newfound popularity, many people are trying to create social media accounts and impersonate them. One person, Andrew Frelon, even claimed to be a member of the band, featured on Rolling Stone, to show how misinformation and confusion can quickly spread.

To further the confusion, on July 3rd, The Velvet Sundown released a statement that someone had attempted to "Hijack the identity of The Velvet Sundown," by "releasing unauthorized interviews, publishing unrelated photos, and creating fake profiles claiming to represent us – none of which are legitimate, accurate, or connected in any way to us." Also stating that Andrew Frelon, who spoke for The Velvet Sundown on The Rolling Stone Magazine, had no affiliation with The Velvet Sundown and that "There is an active attempt to misrepresent our work and take ownership of something they did NOT create. Do not trust any content about The Velvet Sundown unless it comes from our official channels."

Music or Metrics? 

This seems not to be just about music, but about metrics. Will people listen to anything if it's pushed out to them by streaming services like Apple Music, Deezer, and Spotify? And with Spotify’s promotional tools, such as their Discover Weekly playlists, it makes it easier to push AI music out to consumers, especially when one is passively listening to music or even a mood playlist. And to top it all off, songs by The Velvet Sundown were even added to influential playlists like the Vietnam War Music playlist with 634,983 saves, having 26 songs listed.

AI in music is a complex ever ever-evolving topic. In 2024, more than 200 artists including Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, Billie Eilish, Stevie Wonder, J Balvin and Jon Bon Jovi know this and fought against the use of AI in music, signing an open letter warning about the dangers of AI in music that stated, “We must protect against the predatory use of AI to steal professional artists’ voices and likenesses, violate creators’ rights, and destroy the music ecosystem.” If only they were listened to by distributors and streaming platforms. 

Long Story Short: Is Spotify behind this? A label? Just a social experiment? This story is constantly changing, and so is AI in the music industry. Whether they are real people or just an AI band. This is just the beginning of AI in music, and it's fascinating to see and follow how music discovery is evolving and how the industry has to adapt accordingly.