AI-powered music group grabs significant attention on Spotify's platform
In the digital age, music is no longer confined to human composition. The recent emergence of The Velvet Sundown, a synthetic music project, has accelerated calls for clear guidelines to protect listeners' trust and ensure creators understand how their work may be repurposed.
The Velvet Sundown, whose members, likenesses, instrumental tracks, and lyrics were generated by AI, quickly went viral. Some celebrated it as a legitimate form of digital art, while others felt deceived by its use of AI. The controversy surrounding the project has sparked intense debate in the music industry.
As the music industry grapples with this new reality, it's becoming increasingly clear that transparency, ethical concerns, and regulatory gaps are at the forefront of the current discussions.
Transparency
Under the newly phased-in European AI Act, starting August 2, 2025, providers of generative AI models, including music generators, must disclose summaries of training data used and demonstrate copyright compliance. Clear user notification is mandated, meaning users must know when they interact with AI-generated content, addressing transparency about AI involvement.
However, concerns about uneven implementation across countries and reluctance from some tech giants, such as Meta declining to join the EU AI Act’s code of practice, signal ongoing debates about how rigorously transparency rules are enforced.
Ethical Concerns
A core debate centers on whether an artist's voice and music are a "sacred element of personal identity" or merely commercial property. This raises moral issues about permission and agency, especially regarding deceased or living artists’ voices being used in AI-generated content without control or consent.
Some companies, like Soundverse.ai and Mozart AI, promote ethical AI training, using only owned or licensed materials and providing fair compensation to original creators. This contrasts with others operating in a legal “grey zone” that exploit copyrighted content without clear rights.
Responsible AI initiatives are emerging, such as the Music RAI project, aiming to reduce bias in AI music generation and promote fairness in the technology’s use.
Regulatory Gaps
Despite EU moves to regulate AI broadly, the music industry remains wary of potential dilution in enforcement and pushback from powerful tech companies seeking lighter regulation. In the US, recent legislative developments removed a 10-year moratorium on state AI regulation, allowing states like Tennessee to enact laws like the ELVIS Act that impose transparency and rights requirements on AI music.
The music industry is actively lobbying for licenses, permissions, and payment schemes for AI-generated music, but internal tensions exist over whether explicit creator consent should be mandatory before AI training or generation can proceed. High-profile artists and industry leaders advocate strongly for these protections.
The Velvet Sundown is guided by human creative direction, with its creators using AI as both an instrument and collaborator. As the industry navigates this evolving landscape, companies adopting transparent, licensed, and ethically trained AI music models appear best positioned. Ongoing advocacy and international cooperation aim to address bias, consent, and fair compensation issues at scale.
"The transparency requirements under the European AI Act, starting in August 2025, will mandate providers of music generators, such as The Velvet Sundown, to disclose their training data and copyright compliance. This is aimed at ensuring listeners and users understand when they interact with AI-generated music."
"Ethical debates in the music industry revolve around the use of AI-generated content, particularly concerning the ownership and consent of living and deceased artists. Companies like Soundverse.ai and Mozart AI promote ethical AI training by using only owned or licensed materials and compensating original creators fairly."
