How AI-generated fake bands are sweeping music, from YouTube to Spotify

The year 2025 has been a prolific one for Etta Mae Hartwell. In just a few months, the young soul singer has released two albums and a compilation album, available on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, and Apple Music. And on YouTube, where she has racked up more than seven million streams, she's garnering rave reviews. But something's amiss. On a discussion forum, a user expresses doubts: "Tidal recommended this artist to me yesterday, but I can't find any information on her. Is she a real person?"

In fact, Etta Mae Hartwell doesn't exist. Her voice—and the accompanying instruments—were entirely generated using an artificial intelligence (AI) tool by Ersan Genç, a passionate artist living in Turkey. The man, who initially sought to "experiment for fun," actually manages several fictional musicians of the same genre, including another English-speaking soul singer named Layla Vaughn.

After Sundown, Appalachian White Lightning, Gate of None, Eurozia… By exploring major streaming platforms, Le Monde identified more than fifty “bands” likely to generate their music using AI. In most cases, it was impossible to contact the people behind these “artists,” but half a dozen admitted to Le Monde that they use generative AI.

This small sample is just a drop in the ocean in the uninterrupted flow of synth tracks currently flooding streaming platforms. Deezer, which uses an internal tool to detect them, estimated the daily arrival at 10,000 tracks in January. Today, the French company estimates that there are around 20,000 new tracks, or 18% of the music uploaded to the platform each day.

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