Fake AI-Created Canadian Band Gets A Million Spins on Spotify

The 'creator' behind one of the greatest, and some say alarming, hoaxes yet using Artificial Intelligence says it was done as a 'social experiment.' The guys in the band you see in our story are not real...

   Do you listen to Spotify? Heard of the Velvet Sundown?

The band, whose music was described as 1970's style laid back rock and indie style, reached over a milliion plays on Spotify, which is pretty rarified air for a new group.

However, a CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, their version of the British BBC) expose' reveals this new band is actually a complete fake, created by AI. From the aritsts, to their images, to their music, they simply don't exist.

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According to the CBC, the man, who goes by the pseudo-name Andrew Freylon, admits he duped journalists about the group.  Freylon posed as a spokesman for the band, and admitted to CBC his experiment had become too fascinating to "turn from."

The tale began a few weeks ago when the band mysteriously appeared on various streaming platforms, and begn to gather thousands of plays by consumers, from what they thought were 2 albums from the four-man group.

However, according to the CBC, fans began to question their reality:

"But savvy listeners noticed something was off. The band's supposed members had no digital footprint, and there was no record of them ever having performed live. The album art and profile photo, featuring four shaggy-haired rockers, also carried hallmarks of generative AI."

Freylon admitted he used an AI program called Suno to create the music. However, he later admitted the 'real' person behind the hoax is an unnamed man who is an expert in digital platform safety and policy issues, and has extensive experience in AI.

Freylon, who says he's corresponded with this person, says he decided to hop on and position himself as the "de-facto" band spokesman.

Either way, this story is perhaps a precautionary tale about social engineering and how easily people can be duped by Artificial Intelligence. Some say it's downright scary, and in the world of entertainment, the biggest AI hoax that has taken place yet.

To read more about this hoax, click here.

READ More: not long ago, a major US newspaper had to apologize for a major AI-created blunder that shredded their credibility.