The false uploads were spotted by X (formerly Twitter) users earlier this week and have affected dozens of artists. All the tracks appear with similarly styled black-and-white artwork, which seem to be AI-generated. One of the bands affected, German metalcore act CALIBAN, publicly commented on their profile falling victim to the unauthorised upload and claimed that the music is also AI-generated.

 

“Dear Fans,” they started (via The PRP). “A song has been released via our Spotify artist profile that is not ours. A fraudulent artist posing as Caliban has uploaded an Al-generated song via a dubious distributor that is now scheduled for release. Caliban is not affiliated with this release.”

 

The band continued: “We and our team are working on resolving this issue. This appears to have occurred with various bands throughout the scene at this time as labels and managements are committed to rectifying the situation. That being said, we thank you for your ongoing support of real, handcrafted music written by human beings.”

 

The similarities between the songs and their covers suggests that this mass hacking was a concentrated effort by one individual or group. However, it appears that no one has yet identified themselves as the perpetrator, nor explained the intention behind the false songs.

 

AI-generated music is currently a hot-button topic, as the Recording Industry Association Of America (RIAA) is embroiled in a lawsuit with music generation startups Suno and Udio. The suit – filed on behalf of record labels Warner Records, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music – alleges that the companies are infringing copyright by using trademarked songs to “train” their AI software. The plaintiffs are seeking up to $150,000 in damages for each infringed work.