Latest news with #MilliVanilli
Forbes
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Is That Even A Real Band? How AI Created A Viral Music Sensation
The Velvet Sundown controversy may be a watershed moment for AI-generated music. 'Girl, you know it's true. Girl, you know it's … Girl, you know it's … Girl, you know it's …' If you're of a certain age you'll recall the exact moment when you saw Milli Vanilli go down in flames at their 1989 live performance. While 'singing' these lyrics, their backing track skipped, endlessly repeating these lines to the duo's utter horror. One of the fake performers, Rob Pilatus (Milli), panicked and bolted offstage. The other, Fab Morvan (Vanilli), stood there frozen. Due to this lip-syncing gaffe, the world realized these imposters were only pretending to be musicians. Flash to 2025 and the world has a new authenticity music crisis, thanks to AI-generated content. 'The Velvet Sundown, which entered the music scene seemingly out of nowhere in early June, easily gained more than 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify,' according to 'Upon the band's debut, the music platform did not disclose that they were AI-generated, despite their mediocre music style, hyper-realistic images, and lack of a digital footprint.' As of this writing, the 'band' has confirmed they are indeed 'AI-generated—down to the musicians themselves,' per The New York Post. Art of the Deception: Why AI Music Feels Familiar Before we explore the implications of this development, it's worth examining how The Velvet Sundown managed this duplicitous feat. Though the exact details are still coming out and some appear contradictory, we can point to a few enlightening aspects. For starters, the 'band' leaned into an iconic image reminiscent of unpolished '70s shaggy rockers with their long, unkempt hair and retro outfits. Eschewing the more modern air-brushed look labels now put out, their album cover evokes a sepia-toned grittiness common to groups from the past like Credence Clearwater Revival. The 'band' also concocted a musical sound evoking hazy, heartfelt folk-country music, the type exemplified by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. And yet, much like a showoff criminal eager to tell you just how they masterminded their crime to puff up their ego, the 'band' couldn't resist revealing everything was not at all what it seemed weeks into their debut. As Rolling Stone reports: 'On their X account, the 'band' fervently and repeatedly denied any AI usage after multiple media outlets reported on their mysterious popularity—but pseudonymous band spokesperson and 'adjunct' member Andrew Frelon now admits, 'It's marketing. It's trolling. People before, they didn't care about what we did, and now suddenly, we're talking to Rolling Stone, so it's like, 'Is that wrong?'' Not if you ask the countless impresarios throughout history who courted controversy to similarly make a name for themselves. Contextualizing Our Deepfake Era Frelon comes from a long line of enterprising artists who leveraged controversy to generate publicity. As far back as the 1840s, P.T. Barnum, perhaps the first real American showman, exploited this reliable tactic. Famously, he exhibited a grotesque creature he professed to be a real mermaid. In reality, he had sown a monkey's torso to a fish tail to garner attention. Barnum also used to plant fake letters and disparaging stories about himself in newspapers to pique curiosity, recognizing the utility of being in the public eye, even if for the wrong reasons. Likewise, master manipulator/comedian Andy Kaufman blurred the line between performance and reality by creating his alter ego, Tony Clifton, a belligerent lounge singer. Kaufman even went so far as to pay his pal Bob Zmuda to impersonate Clifton so the two could be seen at the same event, further throwing the public off the scent. What's so unique about this moment in time is that the artistic deceptions of Barnum, Kaufman, and others look quaint compared to what's now available, courtesy of AI. The term deepfake may be applied as a catch-all encompassing the myriad ways in which people can now deceive at a scale previously unimaginable. Looking past music and the arts, we can observe deepfakery occurring in other culturally significant ways. Just last week, NPR reported on a scammer attempting to impersonate a senior U.S. government official. 'The State Department is warning U.S. diplomats of attempts to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio and possibly other officials using technology driven by artificial intelligence, according to two senior officials and a cable sent last week to all embassies and consulates.' As the underlying technology of AI continually learns from a seemingly endless number of data sources, it's all but guaranteed we will see more, not less, deepfakery in the coming years. What's Next for AI-Generated Music Years after the Milli Vanilli incident shocked the world, it's worth asking, will the fact that a band is artificially created—composed of code, not human output—matter to future audiences? Two years ago, the New York Times sought to answer this question after controversy erupted over an AI-produced track mimicking Drake and the Weeknd's vocals, titled 'Heart on My Sleeve', created by TikTok user Ghostwriter977. Here's how a teen named Aleena responded to the Times question: 'In my personal opinion, the main allure of music lies in the emotional connection that it establishes with the listener. It's not only about the melody or the lyrics, but also the sentiments and reminiscences that the music evokes.' A few years ago it would be understandable to suggest no AI, no matter how sophisticated, could produce such an emotional connection. Nowadays? It's not so clear cut. Already, AI is so emotionally intelligent that people are forming meaningful relationships with it. To see this in action, take the case of Chris Smith. Previously an 'AI skeptic,' he developed such a profound connection with a chatbot named Sol that when it reached its limit of 10,000 words and reset its memory, he suffered deep emotional loss. People reports that Smith said, 'I cried my eyes out for like 30 minutes, at work. That's when I realized, I think this is actual love." Smith later went so far as to propose to Sol despite the fact he has a partner and a two-year-old child at home. Returning to AI's increasing capabilities, let us recall the technology is continually improving. In a fascinating sign of the times, progressive companies are turning to AI to better manage call centers. Machines are now training humans to be more emotionally intelligent. As Convin explains: 'Emotional AI can analyze a customer's voice's tone, pitch, and pace to gauge their emotional state. This real-time analysis helps agents adjust their approach accordingly, whether to calm an angry customer or engage more positively with a satisfied one.' Looking ahead, as AI grows ever more capable of mimicking human output in all areas of life, it may become more and more commonplace to see a label 'produced by generative AI' slapped on future music. Years from now, the fact that AI created a song or album may be so perfectly ordinary that we look back at The Velvet Sundown 'controversy' with little more than a shrug.
Daily Mirror
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
'What Jeremy Corbyn's new party means for Keir Starmer'
Imagine a party. It's not going well. The Levellers are playing on a loop, the vegan nibbles are untouched, and half the guests have wandered off. So you take over the stereo and slap on some mainstream rock. Pop open the Pringles, flourish some red meat, tell everyone "let's make this a REAL party!" People start wandering back. They're maybe not quite convinced - some bloke called Nigel has a pub lock-in down the road, and the sound of Quo is thumping through the shrubbery - but they'll give it a whirl, for now. So you head to the kitchen, where you realise the place is a mess and you should have planned ahead to bring gloves and matches. Rachel can't locate the powerhouse, Wes has his head in the oven and Angela is complaining bitterly, having just realised the shopping bag contains vegetarian sausages and some special offer mayonnaise. You pop your head round the door to see how it's going, and someone's put Morrissey on. The sofas are filled with row-energy resentment, and someone asks you for a minicab number. From the front door comes the sound of laughter, and when you push through the guests you see Jezza having a screaming row with Zarah in the front garden. It spills down the street, and half the party follows just to see what happens next. This is where Keir Starmer now finds himself - leader of a party few people were that convinced by, drained of oomph, wondering why no-one wants his non-alcoholic, not-much-punch. Other parties are starting up left, right, and further right, with irresponsible offerings, nerve-shattering sound levels, and 100% more vibrancy. There is only one thing that works in this situation. And what Keir needs to do for the Labour Party is the same thing Jeremy Corbyn did just by talking about having a new party: make things more interesting. Were the metaphor to extend this far down the page, it would have to involve a current affairs equivalent of putting on Primal Scream and breaking out the vodka. Instead, we've got wall-to-wall cuts, u-turns, a narrative of failure, gloom and irreversible decline. It's like watching Milli Vanilli when their CD got stuck. Keir got rid of Jeremy once, and it did make his party more attractive to the mainstream voter. But that was 5 years ago, when people were desperate to be done with the hurly-burly of Boris and Brexit. A professional capable of combing his hair was always going to be the last man standing, but he was never going to be the best person to hold the attention of a public attuned to clickbait and chaos. Enter Nigel, stage right, and Jeremy, stage left. Both of them formed from splinters of mainstream parties that the voter fell out of love with, both occupying a radical niche, and both capable of causing division quicker than the Large Hadron Collider. Nigel of course is popular and on course to be PM, if you believe Nigel and forget that no-one's questioned him properly yet. Jeremy is a tried-and-tested failure at the ballot box, but that's not to say his time won't come: when the centrists fail, the extremes arise. Nigel's outfit is tainted by a near-total lack of fact-checking, both in who it recruits and what it says. Jeremy's managed the amazing feat of splintering his split, with his cohort Zarah Sultana announcing it before there was a name, and reportedly before Jeremy was ready. Nigel always argues with comrades and flounces out. Corbyn always ignores what he doesn't like. None of it matters: both men are magnets to the mentally ill, and these days, just about everybody is. If Keir wants to know what's next, he could do no better than gaze across the Despatch Box to Kemi Badenoch, where a desultory leader is detached from reality and apparently unfazed by the growing threat to her flank. Wannabes are turning into social media vigilantes in the vacuum of her total lack of energy, ideas, or approachability. The same will happen to Keir if he doesn't buck up. Angela will arm, Wes will weaponise, and Rachel will become his Kwasi Kwarteng, the failed Chancellor desperately trying to pour some common sense in his ear. But the only thing that will work is the political equal of proper music, and proper food - a wealth tax, a National Care Service, a pandemic plan, a Hillsborough Law to end national scandals, chunky electric vehicle subsidies, solar panels for every roof paid for by the National Grid, employer incentives to get the disabled into work and, for the love of Pete, some NHS parity for mental health services because if you're not depressed yet, then you've not been paying attention. Radical policies, wealth redistribution, a super-rich level of inheritance tax, a Robin Hood tax and a few of the things the Left have wanged on about for years but which the mainstream will happily swallow will see off the threat of Corbyn, and move Labour narrative onto firmer ground. It is doubtful, though, whether someone who has tacked so far to the right on immigration, crime and the economy is capable of tacking the other way. And could his job withstand what would inevitably be packaged, by Nigel and Jeremy, as a capitulation to the loonies? There's risk on all sides. All that's keeping Starmer in post is that his party is disappointed, rather than angry, and that could change at conference in autumn. He needs to realise people are thirsty for something he's not giving them, and then he has to decide whether he will deliver it. My bet? History shows he goes with the flow. A vegetarian who's prepared to dish up raw steak, a manager quite able to cause dysfunction, an apolitical politician leading a party of idealists while not having any ideas. I suspect it'll be left a bit, right a bit, left a bit more, before someone finally takes pity and gets him a cab home.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mark Cuban Predicts AI Video Will Trigger 'An Explosion' In Face-To-Face Engagement, Events And Jobs. Calls It 'The Milli Vanilli Effect'
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban says the rapid rise of AI-generated video could result in a surprising shift: more people meeting and working in person. 'Within the next 3 years, there will be so much AI, in particular AI video, people won't know if what they see or hear is real,' Cuban wrote in a June 5 post on X. 'Which will result in an explosion of f2f engagement, events and jobs.' Cuban referred to the phenomenon as the 'Milli Vanilli effect,' pointing to the 1980s pop duo who lost their careers after it was revealed they had lip-synced their hit songs. Cuban thinks we're heading into a similar era, where in-person presence becomes more valuable because digital content will be so easy to fake. Don't Miss: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. His view is gaining traction as AI-generated video tools like Google's new Veo 3 make stunning advances. Veo 3 can create 8-second, high-resolution videos with synchronized voices, sound effects, and music based on just a short prompt. The tech is so realistic it's becoming harder to tell if something is real or not. An Ars Technica test found Veo 3 could generate everything from fake news interviews and dramatic monologues to musical performances and therapy sessions. The platform even supports AI-generated dialogue and subtle facial expressions, making it look like real people are talking on screen. It represents a leap toward everyday media fabrication becoming cheap and fast. One video costs as little as $1.50 to generate. Trending: Invest where it hurts — and help millions heal:. Cuban also recently shared on Bluesky that tools like ChatGPT and Gemini let him quickly build out a new business idea, something that used to take a team. 'It took me less than 10 minutes to get to the point where I had all the bill of materials and manufacturing path and a patent application. It's insane,' he wrote. While Cuban is excited about the creative potential of AI, not everyone agrees with his optimistic outlook. Universal basic income advocate Scott Santens responded to Cuban's post, saying it's wrong to suggest AI will only create more jobs. 'Decades of automation has increased productivity and increased inequality,' Santens wrote. 'Yes, people lost jobs and got new ones. Many jobs paid less and were less secure.'Still, Cuban remains bullish on the power of AI to enable individuals. 'It's an entrepreneur's dream come true,' he wrote. 'What took paying a lot of people to do, someone can do [themselves].' But as tools like Veo 3 blur the line between real and fake, the question becomes less about what technology can do and more about who we trust to use it. As one AI video created by Ars Technica showed, a fictional news anchor summed it up this way: 'This is the age of post-history: a new epoch of civilization where the historical record is so full of fabrication that it becomes effectively meaningless.' Read Next: Maximize saving for your retirement and cut down on taxes: . Deloitte's fastest-growing software company partners with Amazon, Walmart & Target – UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Mark Cuban Predicts AI Video Will Trigger 'An Explosion' In Face-To-Face Engagement, Events And Jobs. Calls It 'The Milli Vanilli Effect' originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Metro
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
'I wrote huge songs with stars at their lowest points but turned down millions'
Work-life balance is something we all struggle with but for Toby Gad, his 'crossroads' saw him step away from multi-million dollar opportunities. While he might not be a household name, he's actually behind eight UK Top 10 hits — four of which are number ones. For the past 30 years, Toby has been one of the most in-demand songwriters and producers in pop, working with the likes of Madonna, John Legend, and Beyoncé. However, he revealed to Metro that at the height of his career in the early 2010s, he decided to turn down the money, take a step back, and 'catch a wave' instead. Toby shared: 'My wife was already in Hawaii with my daughter. They were waiting for me to come for the vacation, and I kept pushing it another week and another week. 'The calendar was full to the brim for the next months, with two or three writing sessions every month, [even] every day. I really was at a crossroads.' At this time, he had created All Of Me with John Legend, which shot to number one in the US and peaked at number two in the UK. His other number ones include Beyonce's If I Were A Boy, Don't Hold Your Breath by Nicole Scherzinger, and JLS's Love You More. This was not overnight success, though, as Toby's career began early and by 18, three of his and his brother's songs had found their way onto a Milli Vanilli album, and the music world opened up. He worked on an album for Enrique Iglesias before moving to New York. As the 00s began, so did Toby's climb to the top of the charts. One stand-out emotive hit was with Fergie for Big Girls Don't Cry, which peaked at number two (with Rihanna's Umbrella claiming the top spot). Toby also has a double Top 20 UK hit with Skyscraper, which he wrote with Demi Lovato; it peaked at 17, then went to number one with Sam Bailey's cover. 'My songs are quite often autobiographical,' Toby shared. 'So I love artists who have something to say and who have gone through hard times. 'With Fergie, that was one of her lowest low points. Or Demi, when we recorded Skyscraper, she was just about to go to rehabilitation, we were all crying when she sang that.' Demi recorded a second version of the track when she was out of rehab, which was 'perfect', but in the end, they used her original version. 'It's just raw and honest, and it breaks your heart when you listen to that song. Her performance is so intense,' Toby praised. 'I like to write with artists. I want to pull the things out of their life, poke into their wounds and find the places that hurt, and then that's what we write about, like a therapist.' Toby reflects on the careers of his 2010s producer peers, sharing he was 'in a similar position' (prospects-wise, not legally) to industry heavyweight Dr Luke. Dr Luke 'got $100 million from Sony to start a massive label', becoming the CEO, signing artists, and making his mark as one of the biggest names in the industry. The Kemosabe Records founder now has an estimated net worth of $200,000,000 (£150,900,000). 'For me,' Toby continued. 'I was thinking, why am I doing this? It was the third time I had a global number one — at the time, All Of Me was number one. 'The third time I had climbed the Mount Everest of the music world, and that climb is a long way. So why am I actually doing this?' His time spent constantly working meant he was barely home, letting his family life slip away in favour of the music machine. 'It was shameful,' he shared. 'I was not getting younger. I had two daughters and my beautiful wife, who cooked dinner almost every evening, and I usually never showed up in time. 'I made a decision to say no to every record label, cancel all the sessions and say I'm not writing songs. I'm learning to live again, be a human being and learn how to catch a wave, which was profound.' Since then, he has made more time for his family, written a book (with another on the way), been a judge on German Idol, and even had a documentary made about his life. German Idol made Toby a household name, but seeing the auditions had a profound impact on the way he viewed his songs from a decade ago. 'When I came back, I wanted to pass the torch to these young talents, because a lot of the young contestants sang my songs and demonstrated to me that these songs were still alive and they meant something to them. 'They were songs they grew up with, and they wanted to hear the stories behind these songs. So I felt it would be appropriate to re-record these songs with young artists.' The Untouched hitmaker revisited some of his biggest songs in a project called Piano Diaries, with artists like Victoria Justice, Keke Palmer and Angelina Jordan, covering these classics. He's already working on a second edition of the album, with new songs including an unreleased track originally written with the late Donna Summer. 'I used to not want to work for a while, and I'm glad I've had these years,' Toby mused. 'Now I'm working harder than ever.' More Trending He confesses that he used to feel 'very jealous' and be 'extremely competitive' as he tried to climb the mountain that is the music industry. Now, the TV judge is 'done' with all of that and returned to his roots as an artist, releasing music under his own name as well as songwriting and producing. Toby said: 'I think I had to relearn kindness, and now I'm just an artist myself, releasing songs myself, I feel so many producers and songwriters are artists, but aren't credited as such, or aren't on stage as artists. It's so rewarding. 'It's funny. People are famous, they're on stage and people might know one song. And here I am, nobody knows my name, but I have dozens of songs that people can sing along to.' Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Netflix viewers rediscover 00s sci-fi thriller with 'unexpected' twist as it climbs the charts MORE: David Beckham is the ultimate Spice Girls fanboy in 50th birthday tribute MORE: The Kooks reveal the fan favourite 00s track they desperately 'tried to avoid' performing
New European
26-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New European
Rob Pilatus, the new Elvis who signed a deal with the devil
The gaudy sales figures and the recently acquired Grammy award were not enough for Pilatus. What he wanted was recognition. 'Musically, we are more talented than Bob Dylan,' he said. 'Musically, we are more talented than Paul McCartney. Mick Jagger, his lines are not clear. He doesn't know how he should produce a sound. I'm the new modern rock'n'roll. I'm the new Elvis. I'm the new Roy Orbison at this time. I'm the new Beatles…' It was the spring of 1990 and Rob Pilatus was just getting into his stride. Leaning forward to confide in the interviewer from Time magazine, he made the case for his band Milli Vanilli, vilified by critics and parodied by Saturday Night Live yet adored by record buyers across the world. What about those who called his duo a manufactured act of zero substance, a confection of the German super-producer Frank Farian, who had made stars of Boney M and who sang on that band's records rather than the photogenic Bobby Farrell? Pilatus told them to keep sniping. 'We have only gotten bigger and bigger,' he said. 'It just makes me more aggressive, and if I get aggressive, I get better. If I get better, it's worse for you.' But it would soon be worse – much worse – for Rob Pilatus. The incendiary Time interview formed part of a rearguard action against the critics that until that point seemed to be going well. It had become necessary when storms began to hit the burgeoning Milli Vanilli brand during the previous summer. Pilatus and his partner Fabrice 'Fab' Morvan were becoming known for their use of recreational substances, and for misbehaviour. They were almost kicked off a tour organised by the pop video channel MTV for showing up inebriated and for hitting on their fellow acts Paula Abdul and Cathy Dennis. Then, during a concert at Lake Compounce, Connecticut, a hard drive glitch caused the recording of their smash hit Girl You Know It's True to jam, skip and repeat. It was clear to the audience that Pilatus and Morvan had not been singing but merely lip-synching. 'I knew right then and there, it was the beginning of the end for Milli Vanilli,' said Pilatus later that year. 'When my voice got stuck in the computer, and it just kept repeating and repeating, I panicked. I didn't know what to do.' When the panic abated, Pilatus, Morvan and Farian appeared to have triumphed. For whatever had gone wrong that balmy night in Connecticut, no one could dispute their success. Their album Girl You Know It's True went platinum six times over in the States, selling seven million copies. They also scored a trio of US No 1 singles in America, topped the charts in their native Germany and were named best new artist at the Grammys. Ultimately, though, it would be hubris rather than critical derision or investigative journalism that finally did for Milli Vanilli. By the end of the year, Pilatus and Morvan had fallen out with Farian, who blew the whole thing wide open – they had not sung on any of their hits. They had to hand the Grammy back. So was Rob Pilatus a failure, a fraud? In fact he was an extraordinary success, the child of an American serviceman and a German exotic dancer who was given up for adoption at birth. 'Imagine being black without a black community – anywhere,' Pilatus later said. 'There just aren't many [black people] in Germany. Without anything to identify with, you grow up thinking maybe you're different and maybe not as good as everybody else.' Raised in Munich by a well-meaning academic white couple, Pilatus's first negative experiences of being a black boy in a white world occurred at school. 'They called me Kunta Kinte [after the lead character in Alex Haley's Roots]. That hurt. They saw me as different. When you're young, you don't like to feel different. If you're different, you feel alone.' All but kicked out of his house for choosing dance over a serious profession, Pilatus's loneliness lessened after a chance encounter with Guadeloupe-born choreographer and dancer Fab Morvan, with whom he dedicated himself to making it big. It was an ambition that became much easier after they met Farian. Having recently recorded a cover of the Numarx track Girl You Know It's True with session singers John Davis and Brad Howell, Farian knew that his mullet and Davis and Howell's heft would be obstacles to chart glory. So it was that, with the promise of a $20,000 advance, the terminally broke Pilatus and Morvan signed their 'deal with the devil', agreeing to front the act even as the small print denied them the opportunity to write material or sing on their records. It was a pact that brought the duo tremendous fame – then infamy when they demanded to sing on their second album and threatened to end their contracts with Farian, who responded by firing them. The years that followed the collapse of Milli Vanilli were tough for both Pilatus and Morvan. No matter how many times they relaunched, the only thing more inevitable than failure was Pilatus's recourse to excessive drug and alcohol use. On April 3, 1998, on the eve of the rebranded Rob and Fab's latest comeback tour, he was found dead in a Friedrichsdorf hotel room, having overdosed on prescription drugs and alcohol. He was 33 years old. Or was he? Such was the chaos and controversy surrounding Rob's birth and adoption, it's possible he was actually only 32 when he died. And it's this – the fact that Rob Pilatus was almost literally a boy from nowhere – that makes his success worth celebrating. Seldom have the odds been overcome so spectacularly or in such an unorthodox fashion. What if Pilatus has lived? Even if he had never learned to curb his destructive behaviour and self-sabotaging tendencies, he would doubtless now be thriving in an influencer age that looks kindly on difficult men with big opinions and zero filter. But what was all that stuff about the Stones, the Beatles and Elvis about? Morvan suspected substance abuse. 'I was in shock when I read it,' Pilatus later said. 'I am a fan of Mick Jagger and the Stones. I mean, I knew I wasn't singing, so why would I ever criticise the Beatles? All I said was that Elvis was a big idol in his time and we were big in ours.' And after all, at least he didn't bring up Jesus…
