A Canadian who duped journalists in an elaborate AI music hoax says he apologizes to anyone hurt by his experiment but that it's been "too fascinating" to turn away from.
A man using the pseudonym Andrew Frelon posed as the spokesperson for a band called The Velvet Sundown — which he later said he had no involvement with — creating a media frenzy that propelled the AI-assisted "band" to a million monthly listeners on Spotify.
He spoke with CBC News over the phone Friday on condition that his real name not be revealed. CBC News agreed not to use his real name because he fears harassment based on the hateful messages he's received online, and worries he would lose work if identified.
The sticky online saga began when the band appeared on music streaming platforms several weeks ago and amassed hundreds of thousands of streams from two full-length albums.
Its blend of laid-back 1970s-inspired rock and modern indie pop appeared on several popular Spotify playlists, including one featuring Vietnam War songs.
But savvy listeners noticed something was off. The band's supposed members had no digital footprint, and there was no record of them ever having performed live. The album art and profile photo, featuring four shaggy-haired rockers, also carried hallmarks of generative AI.
But as the controversy gained steam, an account on social media platform X purporting to represent the band emphatically denied that any of the music was created by artificial intelligence, calling the accusations "lazy" and "baseless."
CBC reached out to the X account on Wednesday and attempted to arrange an interview through a Gmail account purporting to represent the band.
Then, a man calling himself Andrew Frelon told Rolling Stone , in an article that was published online later that day, that he is behind The Velvet Sundown and the X account, and that he used generative AI platform Suno to create the songs. He called the project an "art hoax."
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