<\/p>\n
Lucas Woodland, frontman of the Welsh post-hardcore band Holding Absence, recently made a disturbing discovery on Spotify: an AI-generated act that cites his band as an influence has more monthly listeners than their human inspiration. Holding Absence has been around for a decade; the AI \u201cband,\u201d Bleeding Verse, only launched on Spotify in late July. \u201cIt\u2019s shocking, it\u2019s disheartening, it\u2019s insulting,\u201d Woodland wrote<\/a> on X. \u201cMost importantly \u2013 it\u2019s a wake up call. Oppose AI music, or bands like us stop existing.\u201d<\/p>\n Bleeding Verse, which says in its Spotify bio that it uses \u201chuman lyrics, turned into songs with AI\u201d has accumulated 897,349 monthly listeners in just two months. Holding Absence, four actual humans who have been touring the world and releasing music since 2015 (though its current incarnation with Woodland didn\u2019t begin until the following year), currently have 847,638 monthly listeners.<\/p>\n More from Rolling Stone<\/strong><\/p>\n The AI act doesn\u2019t mention Holding Absence on its Spotify page, but its YouTube bio<\/a> is more revealing: \u201cBleeding Verse is an emotional post-hardcore band crafting cinematic soundscapes and heartbreak-heavy melodies,\u201d it reads. \u201cInspired by artists like Dayseeker and Holding Absence, we blend ambient textures, soaring vocals, and poetic lyricism to explore grief, identity, and healing. Lyrics from the heart. AI-assisted instrumentation and vocals.\u201d<\/p>\n In recent weeks, Reddit users have mentioned<\/a> that Spotify\u2019s algorithm has recommended Bleeding Verse tracks to them, just as it promoted the now-infamous<\/a> Velvet Sundown and other AI acts.\u00a0\u201cThis is the first time I\u2019ve been fooled by AI,\u201d one Redditor wrote. \u201cIt\u2019s getting scarily good.\u201d Another user said that a Bleeding Verse song made them \u201ctear up,\u201d and that the revelation of its AI nature left them \u201cfeeling strangely betrayed.\u00a0(A Spotify spokesperson did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone\u2018s request for comment.) Holding Absence appears to be roundly defeating their AI counterparts on other platforms: They have more than 83,000 Instagram followers, while an account claiming to represent Bleeding Verse has 1,937.<\/p>\n In a press conference <\/a>last week, Spotify made it clear that the company has zero intention of banning the AI music that\u2019s increasingly prevalent on the platform, and would continue to allow its algorithm to promote it, with some exceptions. \u201cWe\u2019re not here to punish artists for using AI authentically and responsibly,\u201d said Charlie Hellman, Spotify\u2019s VP and global head of music product. \u201cWe hope that artists\u2019 use of AI production tools will enable them to be more creative than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n Spotify did announce plans to curtail \u201cmass uploads, duplicates, SEO hacks, artificially short track abuse, and other forms of slop,\u201d and to battle impersonation and fraud. They\u2019re also rolling out a new system to help artists to identify their AI usage, and encouraging, but not mandating disclosure.<\/p>\n Bleeding Verse, which has been open about its nature from the start, released its first album, I Became What You Broke, on July 25, followed by several singles and an EP called The Anatomy of Hurt. Holding Absence released their most recent album, The Noble Art of Self Destruction, in 2023. Over the summer they collaborated with Halocene on the single \u201cBite My Tongue.\u201d<\/p>\n Best of Rolling Stone<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for RollingStone’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lucas Woodland, frontman of the Welsh post-hardcore band Holding Absence, recently made a disturbing discovery on Spotify: an AI-generated act that cites his band as an influence has more monthly listeners than their human inspiration. Holding Absence has been around for a decade; the AI \u201cband,\u201d Bleeding Verse, only launched on Spotify in late July. 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