The Day the Music Died?

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AI holds No. 1 spot for Spotify’s daily Viral. A ’60s-flavored band blew up on Spotify. They’re AI. From Washington Post.

There was one only problem: It didn’t seem like the Velvet Sundown was really a band at all. There was no evidence online that any of the listed band members were real people. The photos the band shared were uncannily smooth, the vocals mechanically soulful and the lyrics a grab bag of anti-war clichés. To many of those following the band’s quick popularity — it released two albums, “Floating on Echoes” and “Dust and Silence,” in June alone, with a third coming in mid-July — the Velvet Sundown seemed like classic-rock snake oil.

On Saturday, the group confirmed through its Spotify bio that the music was created using artificial intelligence “guided by human creative direction. This isn’t a trick — it’s a mirror,” the statement reads. “An ongoing artistic provocation designed to challenge the boundaries of authorship, identity, and the future of music itself in the age of AI.”

Embrace change? Only way a musician will make money is by street performing. Back to Middle Ages with ye.

Yours,