You've been listening to an AI band on Spotify without even realising it
What's really going on is less about music and more about technology. The Velvet Sundown's songs have landed on some popular playlists, like 'Vietnam War Music' and 'Good Mornings', which are followed by hundreds of thousands of users. Most listeners probably never searched for the band, the songs just played while people were after a bit of background music. It's a reminder that streaming numbers can be misleading, especially when algorithms and playlists are doing the heavy lifting. Is AI music the future?
Spotify's system doesn't really care if a band is real or not. As long as a track fits the vibe of a playlist, it can rack up streams, and those monthly listener stats can climb quickly. The platform's 'Discovery' mode makes things even easier for unknown acts, letting them trade a slice of their royalties for more exposure in the algorithm. It's a set-up that makes it simple for AI-generated music to blend in with tracks from real artists, and for streaming metrics to look more impressive than they really are.
The band's social media accounts have tried to push back against the AI rumours. 'This is not a joke,' the band's apparent X account wrote. 'This is our music, written in long, sweaty nights in a cramped bungalow in California with real instruments, real minds, and real soul.' They doubled down, insisting, 'Every chord, every lyric, every mistake — HUMAN.' In a follow-up, they added, 'Just because we don't do TikTok dances or livestream our process doesn't mean we're fake. The fact that some blog editors would rather pretend we're a bunch of machines than admit an unknown band is out here grinding & made something people enjoy is insulting.'
But the evidence says otherwise. Their images, their online presence, even their lyrics and vocals, all have that too-perfect, generic feel that comes from machine learning tools. It's hard to shake the sense that the whole project is less about artistry and more about testing how far AI can go in gaming the system.
For musicians, this is a tough pill to swallow. Real bands spend years building a following, playing gigs, and writing songs that mean something to them. Now, a few clicks and some clever playlist placements can give an AI act the appearance of success, even if no one actually knows or cares who they are.
The Velvet Sundown story is a sign of where things are heading. As AI gets better at making music, and as streaming platforms keep focusing on numbers over substance, it's only going to get harder to tell what's real and what's not. For listeners, it means more background music that sounds just right but doesn't really say anything. For artists, it's another reminder that in the streaming age, popularity can be manufactured, but meaning still comes from the human touch.
First Published Date: 02 Jul, 16:54 IST
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Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
‘Anurag Basu wanted me to compose for Saaya too, but Mahesh Bhatt didn't want to bet on a rank newcomer': Pritam
Pritam and Anurag Basu's first film together was the 2006 romantic thriller Gangster, but their professional and personal companionship dates even further back. Over the past decade and a half, they've collaborated on the memorable soundtracks of Barfi! (2012), Jagga Jasoos (2017), Ludo (2020), Life… in a Metro (2007), and its upcoming spiritual successor, Metro… In Dino, which is itself named after a chartbuster from the first film. When SCREEN visited Pritam's studio for an exclusive interview, he was neck-deep into delivering the soundtrack of Metro… In Dino, 'Side A' of which is out on Spotify. Like Basu, Pritam beliefs in perfecting their product till they're forced to give it up. He talks to us about his long association with Basu, how the music of the spiritual successor is different from the first part, and missing his partners-in-crime from Life… in a Metro. Do you remember when you first met Anurag Basu? When I moved to Mumbai after FTII in 1998-99, I met a school friend who was already working in the film industry. One day, he asked me if I can make a song for a horror TV show Anurag Basu is directing. That's when I first met him, he had a red gamchha around his neck. Then we did a lot of serial title songs together, like Manzilein Apni Apni (2001) and Miit (2003). Then we landed up staying in the building. That's when we started bonding. Anurag tried to get me into Saaya (2003) also, but none of my films hadn't released then. So Mahesh Bhatt (producer) didn't want to trust a rank newcomer. Anu Malik was already working with him then. Before Gangster (2006), my work in Dhoom (2004) had released so that became the first film we did together. Why do you keep going back to working together? He's very clear about what he wants. We trust each other blindly. He's a full genius. If you see him now, he looks like Satyajit Ray from a side angle. Unka aashirwad aa gaya hai ab ispe (laughs). He knows every layer of filmmaking, from camerawork to edit. He also has tremendous faith in his technicians. Any movie he makes, I like being a part of that process. He has a very good music and lyric sense. Do you also connect on the fact that neither of you wants to give up on bettering their product till the delivery date? Yeah, of course! I'll keep working till you snatch it away from me. Ultimately, the products we're working on are for posterity. I've changed a lot of pieces in the OTT releases also, like in the case of Jagga Jasoos. I keep improving and layering till the OTT delivery. So yeah, our combination gets a little mad. What is it about music that Anurag Basu gets right, that other filmmakers don't? He builds his narrative around music. He thinks in terms of music. Life.. in a Metro was one of the first anthologies of Hindi cinema. Multiple stories need a common thread. He could've made a narrator that thread. But he came up with a band which ties all the stories together. Similarly in Barfi!, both the protagonists didn't talk with clarity, but with actions. So he told that story musically. Then he made Jagga Jasoos into a complete musical because Jagga stammers, so he sings. Even in a film like Ludo, which is more raw than emotional, he had music. A minimum of six songs have to be there in an Anurag Basu film. There are more in Metro… In Dino. While doing Metro… In Dino, did you miss your band from the first film? The person I missed the most was KK. He wasn't a part of the band. James da, I haven't worked with much. I'm in touch with Soham (Chakraborty) and Suhail (Kaul). It's been 18 years, that's a lot! But I got hold of Niladri Kumar (zitar player), who was also an integral part of the first part. This time, my band is with Raghav Sachar and Papon. Raghav is a very sweet and exuberant guy who loves collecting perfumes. I call Papon the king of the North-East. He's very culturally rooted. So I didn't feel the absence of James da, Suhail, and Soham. Was Soham also a part of the band? Yes, if you see, 'In Dino' was sung by Roopkumar Rathod and Soham in different versions. Soham sang 'In Dino' because he was in the band initially. But he couldn't make it to the shoot when we were doing the band scenes. So Anurag asked me to lip-sync the song and said we'd record it later. But none of us could match how Soham sang it. In this film also, we have multiple singers singing the same song. There are different singers in the film version and the album version. Like in the first one, 'Alvida' was sung by both James da and KK. 'Baatein Kuchh Ankahi Si' was sung by Suhail and Adnan Sami. This is a good luck charm now. Did the audience start recognizing you after Life.. in a Metro, since they also saw you in the film instead of just listening to your music? Ya, because of that, people still think I'm a singer. Of course, I sing, but music direction is my primary identity. I always wanted to be a composer, I don't want to be a singer. Whenever anybody meets me, even till today, they say, 'Ye toh woh singer hai na.' Now, I've gotten tired correcting them. Now, I just smile and click pictures with them. If anyone refers to 'In Dino', I know they know nothing about me. Because they don't see me on screen anymore, even in reality shows, they ask why I'm not doing anything these days. Aur yahan meri band baji padi hai. That song did give me recognition, but more as a singer, which I don't want (laughs). How much was the soundtrack of Life.. in a Metro an influence of Metro… In Dino? See, even when I was doing Love Aaj Kal (2009), I told Imtiaz (Ali, director) no matter what we do, the audience is going to compare the album to that of Jab We Met (2007), since it's you, me, and Irshaad Kamil (lyricist) coming back together. In the case of Metro, that comparison would be on steroids. In the 18 years since the first part, those songs have become a part of life. There's no point competing with that. This is a new concept with new stories and new characters. In fact, Life.. in a Metro was a little darker. This is sweeter and lighter. Is that why those songs were heavy on rock, as compared to the ones in Metro… In Dino? When we did Life.. in a Metro, rock hadn't entered Hindi cinema then. Rock On!! (2008) had also not released then. So there was no concept of rock or a band in a Hindi film. Now, rock has fused with synths worldwide to become alt rock. The bands who started as rock bands, their sounds have also evolved. So the basic language in Dil Ka Kya and Mann Ye Mera is still rock. But overall, the texture of pure rock has changed. So we've left the sound of the first Metro behind. This is a little more progressive in terms of sound. The songs in Metro… In Dino are also influenced by ghazals, right? We think of ghazal as a music genre. We used to refer to 'Aabad Barbad' and 'Hardum Humdum' (Ludo) as 'ghazal EDM.' After that, 'Besharam Rang' (from Pathaan) and 'Aaj Ki Raat' (from Stree 2) were also done in the same format. But ghazal is actually poetry. If a nazm is sung in semi-classical style, it's stereotyped as ghazal. But why can't I sing a ghazal in a modern way? Like in Barfi!, I did Ghalib's 'Dil-E-Nadaan' in a rock style, but it didn't make it to the film. Similarly, in Metro… In Dino, we've used an established ghazal in Qaisarul Jafri's 'Tumhare Sheher Ka Mausam Bada Suhana Lage'. I added the hook of Zamaana Lage to it to keep it in the rock style. We've also done some Ghalib songs. We'd also done a Nida Fazli ghazal, but it's no longer in the film. If we manage to make ghazals in the current format, they'll become popular again. The harmonium image of a ghazal would go away. Rock bands would perform ghazals. There'll be Reels made on them. Kids would lap them up. Which is your favourite song from Life.. in a Metro? 'Alvida', because I made it long before the film released. I had become the official music guy at the institute because no one else used to do music while studying sound there. I did the background score for all the diploma films. At FTII, I composed the song, which is an angry heartbreak song. Tumhe jana hai toh jao. You'll miss me more than I'd miss you. Every party I'd go to, my friends would ask me to sing 'Alvida'. It was an extended version with an outro, which wasn't used in the film because of the length. A lot of directors liked that song, from Anurag, Rajkumar Hirani to Sanjay Gadhvi. In fact, even at the success party of Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai (2002), Gadhvi asked me to perform Alvida because he wanted Aditya Chopra to listen to it. You should've auctioned the song if there was so much demand among makers. Right? (Laughs) Ya, I'd even called up Raju and told him when we were finally using 'Alvida' in Life.. in a Metro. I'd never worked with Raju till then, but he introduced me to Sanjay Gadhvi because Raju was editing a movie for him then. Raju and I did a lot of ad jingles together. When I told Raju we're using 'Alvida', he was fine with it. Because a song like that couldn't have been used in mainstream Hindi cinema of that time anyway, especially in Raju and Gadhvi's movies. Dhoom 2 mein toh nahi jaata Alvida (laughs)! Have Aditya Roy Kapur and Anupam Kher also lent their voices in Metro… In Dino? Yes, Anurag wanted to take this one a notch higher. So along with having a band as the narrator, this film also has characters singing like in a musical. A section of Anupam ji's singing has been chopped off in the edit. But Adi's is still there. He's a mast singer. He was also a surprise for me as an actor. I didn't know he's so good! He hasn't done many films where I've done the score, so I haven't seen him perform much. In fact, the whole star cast is very good. 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I spend 200 days a year only at my studio, I don't even go back home. I like working round the clock. But it's all done now. I want to be an integral part of my kids' journey now otherwise I'll repent a lot. I'm already a gone case for my wife. Every song of mine is like a baby. But those kids also need attention (laughs). Metro… In Dino releases in cinemas this Friday on July 4.
Hindustan Times
3 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
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Canva's co-founder Cliff Obrecht told us earlier this year, ahead of the annual Create keynote, that coding is next. This past week, we can add another to that list. Actually, two. Canva became the first to launch its deep research connector with ChatGPT for end-to-end design and content workflows, and the Canva Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server that brings creative tools and content directly into AI agents from OpenAI and others. It shapes up at a time when the competitive landscape doesn't just include creative and workspace tools from the likes of Adobe, Google and Microsoft; but an increasing number of generative AI tools that rightly stake claim to creative prowess themselves. The Ghibli style smarts of the OpenAI's ChatGPT is an example with image generation, while Google's Gemini 2.5 stakes claim as the most proficient coding model. What does this mean? 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Nevertheless, back to the one thing that Project Indigo. This isn't a typical third-party camera app with some additional controls, a few filters and an excuse to put a subscription to unlock some of those (absolutely dislike that approach; have stuck with the default iPhone camera app for years now). Adobe's approach makes this free (at least for now) and their focus is on reworking the computational photography side of things. How's it any different? First, we under-expose more strongly than most cameras. Second, we capture, align, and combine more frames when producing each photo - up to 32 frames as in the example above. This means that our photos have fewer blown-out highlights and less noise in the shadows. Taking a photo with our app may require slightly more patience after pressing the shutter button than you're used to, but after a few seconds you'll be rewarded with a better picture. Comparative results tell me the approach is working. 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Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
'Personally insulted': Travis Kelce's teammates expose their dislike for Taylor Swift by completely ignoring her in viral music reveal
No Kansas City Chiefs player listed Taylor Swift as their top artist (Image via As the Kansas City Chiefs powered through another strong NFL season, a curious off-field storyline from December 2024 captured both sports and pop culture fans: not a single Chiefs player named Taylor Swift as their most-streamed artist of the year. Given Swift's dominant global presence and her high-profile romance with star tight end Travis Kelce , this glaring omission felt like more than just coincidence — and it didn't go unnoticed by the Swiftie fandom. No Taylor Swift in sight as Chiefs players reveal their top music picks In a lighthearted TikTok video shared on the Chiefs' official account, several players opened up about their favorite artists of 2024. But while fans expected a few nods to Swift — who topped Spotify's global charts with The Tortured Poets Department — the reality was different. Defensive tackle Chris Jones and veteran Mike Pennel chose NBA YoungBoy. Kareem Hunt picked Rod Wave. Creed Humphrey gave a surprising shoutout to Nashville rock band Kings of Leon. Other popular picks included Kendrick Lamar, Lauryn Hill, Tems, Future, and Drake. Yet amid all this variety, the woman dating their teammate and headlining a record-breaking world tour didn't receive a single mention. The TikTok video quickly went viral for all the wrong reasons. In the comment section, Swift's loyal fans let their disappointment be known. 'They didn't understand the assignment,' one fan wrote. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Что говорит о вашем характере поза, в которой вы спите! Удивительные Новости Undo Others called out players' outdated or controversial choices — one even remarked, 'Chris Brown??? In 2024?? Woof.' The most emotional reactions, however, came from fans wondering why Kelce himself wasn't interviewed. 'Where is our Travy for this question?' one user asked. Another commented, 'I'm personally insulted by the fact that Travis Kelce was not in this.' While Kelce was absent from the team's video, he did acknowledge Swift's cultural impact during the December 11 episode of his New Heights podcast, co-hosted with brother Jason Kelce. He gave a heartfelt shoutout to her record-shattering Eras Tour: 'Shout-out to Tay, and the unbelievable Eras Tour has finally come to an end... That thing was the best tour in the world because of a lot of people, but mostly because of Taylor. ' Also Read: 'Blake's desperately hoping…': As Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce enjoy date nights, Blake Lively begs for forgiveness In hindsight, this moment in December 2024 hinted at an interesting dynamic: while Kelce publicly supported Swift, the rest of the Chiefs' locker room seemed unmoved by her musical influence. Whether it was a case of differing music tastes or something deeper, the Swift-less Spotify Wrapped left fans buzzing — and speculating — about what really goes on behind the scenes in Kansas City. Game On Season 1 continues with Mirabai Chanu's inspiring story. Watch Episode 2 here.
