Like a modern version of the tree-falling-in-the-woods conundrum, AI is giving us new philosophical questions. For example, if AI music sounds genuine, is it okay to enjoy it?
This debate has gained momentum recently, as a new band called The Velvet Sundown just reached over 500,000 listens on Spotify. The problem is that they don’t actually exist. Everything about them — from their echoey, classic rock-inspired tracks to their Instagram pictures — appears to be AI-generated.
I’ve been listening to the songs and can see why opinions are divided. The sound is melodic and slick, if a bit bland and samey. As background music, it’s not offensive, and I’d argue I’ve heard plenty of worse tunes from human artists. Honestly, if one of these songs came up in a mix, I doubt I’d have immediately realized it was machine-made.
Do you like AI music?
13 votes
To be clear, none of this means it’s okay. There are obvious implications for artists and the music industry, and it feels unsettling that this “band” is being presented as real online. But setting that aside for a moment, we’re curious about your honest reaction to AI-generated music, because The Velvet Sundown is far from the only example in this new era.
We’ve already seen similar debates play out in visual art and writing, but music feels even more personal. When you listen to a track you love, you’re connecting with what you assume is someone’s lived experience or emotion. You know the artist had a flash of inspiration, then worked hard to bring the work to life. That connection might feel hollow if you discover it was generated by a bot trained on a dataset of existing songs. Would that affect your ability to enjoy it?
Let us know if you actually like AI music in the poll above, and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.
