AI-created band The Velvet Sundown achieves viral success on music streaming platform Spotify
In the ever-evolving world of music, a new player has emerged, challenging traditional norms and raising intriguing questions. The Velvet Sundown, a four-piece band with dreamy guitars, vintage synths, and smooth, laid-back vocals, has been making waves on Spotify, despite not being a traditional human band.
The band, consisting of Gabe Farrow, Lennie West, Milo Rains, and Orion "Rio" Del Mar, according to their Spotify bio, has been a rapid success story. With over 1.4 million monthly listeners as of late July 2025, they have managed to capture the attention of music enthusiasts worldwide without any traditional human musician trail.
However, the band's digital footprint is sparse, with no verifiable individual musicians or producers existing online. This has led to a wave of skepticism, with some speculating that The Velvet Sundown might be an AI-generated band. This theory was further fuelled by AI-generated images on their Instagram and the band's description as a "synthetic music project guided by human creative direction" on their official social media accounts.
Despite the mystery surrounding The Velvet Sundown, they are showing up across Spotify, appearing more times than any other artist in a Vietnam-era-themed playlist, for instance. Their streams are climbing, and they are gaining reach with no marketing.
The band distributes their music through DistroKid, a platform that allows for fast uploads and easy access to major streaming services. This, combined with their rapid growth in playlist placements, fits a pattern seen across streaming platforms.
While the music involves AI-generated elements, it is curated or guided by humans, blurring the line between real and artificial musical acts. It seems that for many fans, it's not who makes the music, but the playlist placements and the moody songs that matter.
Interestingly, no one has officially claimed The Velvet Sundown as an AI project. However, a Reddit thread suggests this might be the case. Deezer's audio detection tools reportedly flagged The Velvet Sundown's tracks as possibly AI-generated, adding fuel to the speculation.
As the music industry continues to evolve, The Velvet Sundown serves as a testament to the potential of AI in music creation. Whether they are an AI-generated band or not, their success raises questions about the discovery of music in 2025 and the blurring lines between human and artificial musical acts.
References: 1. The Verge 2. The Velvet Sundown Official Twitter 3. The Velvet Sundown Official Instagram
- The innovation in music technology is being tested with The Velvet Sundown, an artist whose identity remains shrouded, with their playlists on streaming platforms like Spotify gaining substantial popularity.
- The rise of The Velvet Sundown, a band with no traditional human members, is intriguing as their songs are distributed through platforms such as DistroKid, sparking debate about the future of entertainment, where AI-generated elements may play a significant role in music creation.
- Despite speculation and questions about whether The Velvet Sundown is an AI-generated band or a human creation, their music resonates strongly with fans who appreciate their unique sound and playlist placements, blurring the line between real and artificial musical acts.
