Humans have been producing music for over 50,000 years. And now we are letting machines take over?
In June 2025, the AI Band The Velvet Sundown was first introduced to the public and has already attracted 1.4 million monthly listeners on their verified Spotify account. In response to their success, they say, “Not quite human. Not quite a machine. We live somewhere in between”. However, there is no ‘between’! Music comes from the heart, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) doesn’t have one of those.
Yes, AI can produce hundreds or even thousands of songs simultaneously using stored data. But can we call that music? Given that AI is a machine that cannot feel, suffer or dream, and has no emotion or passion, how can it make songs that can speak for everyday people? The truth about AI-generated music is that it imitates all the human actions involved in creating music. AI seeks data on human experience to convey emotions and memories, generating music. Therefore, rather than calling AI a creator of music, a more accurate way of describing AI in the music industry is a tailor of music. For me, the value of music comes from the emotion it contains, not the sound it makes.
Drawing from my experience of the first time listening to the song “The Happiest Girl” by Blackpink, my tears dropped before I even noticed. It wasn’t because the melody was perfect or the song was the best in the world; it was because the emotion and voice conveyed to me are things that AI does not replicate. Music written and sung by humans will always cut deeper than a creation by data.
The success of The Velvet Sundown shows that there is a market for AI-generated music. Companies are lining up to use AI because it is cheaper, quicker and easier to control. The convenience of AI should not come at the cost of connection and losing true artistry. AI is not designed to create rather to imitate human creativity; therefore, it can never be an original creator, let alone a true artist! AI is not like other technologies, like electric guitar, digital synthesiser, and autotune, that help musicians to produce songs and introduce new elements to music. AI can never create; it can only reproduce what already exists.
“AI as a tool in music making is fine, but it’s always going to be the humanity in music that makes people want to listen to it” – Jacob Collier
AI should never replace music made from the heart!
Reference
- Bailey, M. (2019, August 23). Jacob Collier, the prodigy who wowed Herbie Hancock and Quincy Jones. Australian Financial Review. https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/jacob-collier-the-prodigy-who-wowed-herbie-hancock-and-quincy-jones-20190815-p52hfe
- California Learning Resource Network. (2025). How Music Came to the World? California Learning Resource Network. https://www.clrn.org/how-music-came-to-the-world/
- Henkin, D. (2023, December 5). Orchestrating the Future—AI in the Music Industry. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhenkin/2023/12/05/orchestrating-the-future-ai-in-the-music-industry/
- Hiatt, B. (2025, July 6). AI “Band” the Velvet Sundown Officially Confirm They’re AI — and a “Provocation.” Rolling Stone Australia. https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ai-band-the-velvet-sundown-confirm-ai-79519/
- Knibbs, K. (2025, July 3). From Sensual Butt Songs to Santa’s Alleged Coke Habit: AI Slop Music Is Getting Harder to Avoid. WIRED. https://www.wired.com/story/from-sensual-butt-songs-to-santas-alleged-coke-habit-ai-slop-music-is-getting-harder-to-avoid/
- Martinez JR, A. (2024, January 4). The Rise of AI-Generated Music: What It Means for Artists. Flourish Prosper. https://flourishprosper.net/music-resources/the-rise-of-ai-generated-music-what-it-means-for-artists/
- thevelvetsundownmusic. (2020). The Velvet Sundown on Instagram: “The Velvet Sundown is a synthetic music project guided by human creative direction, and composed, voiced, and visualized with the support of artificial intelligence. This isn’t a trick – it’s a mirror. An ongoing artistic provocation designed to challenge the boundaries of authorship, identity, and the future of music itself in the age of AI. All characters, stories, music, voices and lyrics are original creations generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools employed as creative instruments. Any resemblance to actual places, events or persons – living or deceased – is purely coincidental and unintentional. Not quite human. Not quite machine. The Velvet Sundown lives somewhere in between. Instagram / Facebook / TikTok: @thevelvetsundownmusic X: tvs_music.” Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/DLuduo5qbr7/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Appendix
- BLACKPINK. (2022, September 21). BLACKPINK – “The Happiest Girl” (Official Audio). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVXazE8wR1Q
- Haysom, S. (2025, July 7). The Velvet Sundown changes Spotify bio, gives AI update. Mashable. https://mashable.com/article/the-velvet-sundown-spotify-ai-update?test_uuid=003aGE6xTMbhuvdzpnH5X4Q&test_variant=a
- Innovation Training. (2024, April 15). AI Music Creation Tools to Turn your Idea or Story into a Song – Innovation. Innovation Training | Design Thinking Workshops. https://www.innovationtraining.org/ai-music-creation-tools-to-turn-your-idea-or-story-into-a-song/
- The Archaeologist Civicizations Of The World. (2022, August 29). The Archaeologist. The Archaeologist. https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/the-evolution-of-music-40000-years-of-music-explained-in-8-minutes
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Alexander Hanjin De Filippo 
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