The Velvet Sundown has hit a (relative) rough patch, slipping beneath 600,000 Spotify monthly listeners from a peak of well over 1,000,000.
What ever happened to The Velvet Sundown, anyway? Following an avalanche of media exposure, the “synthetic music project” has in many ways been forgotten. Despite the sudden absence of headlines, however, the AI act still has about 600,000 Spotify monthly listeners.
On one hand, that total is down significantly from the 1.4 million monthly listeners The Velvet Sundown attracted at its peak. (Though a bit cumbersome, “The” is an important part of the name; a distinct Velvet Sundown is continuing to pump out audio of its own.)
On the other hand, this total means The Velvet Sundown’s Spotify listener count, besides fluctuating materially in the interim, is roughly the same now as at July’s start. That fact is noteworthy because the virtual group’s not released a new album (or at least an album that’s stayed put on DSPs) since mid-July’s Paper Sun Rebellion.
And it ties back to an equally pressing topic: Several The Velvet Sundown and Velvet Sundown efforts were abruptly removed from Spotify.
In fact, the former’s Paper Sun Rebellion II, we noted in July, was on the platform only briefly.
Apparently, there was something to the streaming service’s not-so-subtle strategy of keeping mum amid The Velvet Sundown controversy and an adjacent barrage of comment requests. Notwithstanding the radio silence, evidence suggests that Spotify took (and is taking) action.
Said evidence includes the above-noted Paper Sun Rebellion II takedown and the conspicuous lack of subsequent album releases. Not factoring for the pulled project, the AI group dropped two albums in June, one in July, and zero to this point in August.
Stated differently, Spotify looks to have some AI release-volume limits in place for certain situations, even if the caps haven’t been publicly disclosed.
(Probably not coincidentally, Universal Music last month flexed its AI-audio moderation and monitoring capabilities in the streaming world.)
What Spotify doesn’t yet have – actually, Deezer is leading the way here – are tags for audio made with artificial intelligence.
Many are now calling for AI-track identification, and it doesn’t seem impossible that the labels (and possibly a completely separate area housing all machine-made music) will become the norm on DSPs down the line.
If nothing else, the likely outcome could reflect the AI age’s volume-specific challenges. It appears safe to say that AI music, far from going away, will become increasingly common moving forward.
While the generic works in question lack the artistic merit and appeal of proper music, that doesn’t mean they won’t steal away playlist spots (The Velvet Sundown blew up in part because of Discover Weekly placements), undiscerning listeners, and ultimately royalties.
Thus, with The Velvet Sundown episode seemingly in the rearview – but with plenty more AI controversies on the horizon – AI tags look like a logical next step.
