--- title: "Folk-Rock Without a Soul: When AI Channels Laurel Canyon" description: An ongoing artistic provocation designed to challenge the boundaries of authorship, identity, and the future of music itself in the age of AI. image: https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hubfs/velvet%20sundown%20in%20studio.jpg --- [Skip to main content](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/folk-rock-without-a-soul-when-ai-tries-to-channel-laurel-canyon#maincontent) [ «  View All Posts ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog) # Folk-Rock Without a Soul: When AI Channels Laurel Canyon July 7th, 2025 3 min read By [David Meerman Scott](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) ![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/velvet%20sundown%20in%20studio.jpg?width=1288&height=734&name=velvet%20sundown%20in%20studio.jpg) Over the past week, many people have been talking about a new “band” called the Velvet Sundown. When they first [appeared on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/artist/2GRtyAXWUiisGYub5SGMrb) and got some modest traction with a half million spins, people took notice. Many identified the band’s music as likely AI created, and mainstream media wrote about it. In the past few days, [the Velvet Sundown posted](https://www.instagram.com/p/DLuduo5qbr7/): “The Velvet Sundown is a synthetic music project guided by human creative direction, and composed, voiced, and visualized with the support of artificial intelligence. This isn’t a trick - it’s a mirror. An ongoing artistic provocation designed to challenge the boundaries of authorship, identity, and the future of music itself in the age of AI.” ## Laurel Canyon-inspired folk-rock The Velvet Sundown plays the sort of music that I like, a genre I would describe as “Laurel Canyon-inspired 1960s-1970s folk-rock aesthetic”.  The AI created music that is perfectly okay but not great, the same feel I get from much of AI text creation. The music seems well rounded, lacking the sharp edges that make music interesting. I’m reminded as I listen to the Velvet Sundown of the kind of music I’d hear in a hotel lobby, you know - those covers of popular songs re-recorded in a studio by somebody other than the original artists to avoid paying full royalties.  As a contrast, one of my favorite new (real) bands, [The Heavy Heavy](https://www.theheavyheavy.com) out of Brighton, UK plays a similar kind of music but has something extra, surprising twists and turns. I’ve seen the Heavy Heavy live twice but wouldn’t see the Velvet Sundown if it were a real band. ## Ethics of AI generated art I’m torn on the ethics of how the Velvet Sundown created this music. On one hand, I am royally pissed that the big tech companies like Meta and OpenAI [steal work from people like me to train their models](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/move-fast-and-steal-things-meta-pirated-53-of-my-books-and-stories-to-train-their-ai). Dozens of my books have been used to train the LLMs without my permission or my publishers’ permission. ![Velvet Sundown on Spotify](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Velvet%20Sundown%20on%20Spotify.jpg?width=450&height=265&name=Velvet%20Sundown%20on%20Spotify.jpg)The Velvet Sundown created their music on the backs of others’ hard work. Obviously, the music of countless artists was used to train the AI the created music by The Velvet Sundown. That sucks for those artists who weren’t paid for their work to be used in this way.  However, I am a believer in ethical uses of AI, particularly how AI can help to modify somebody’s own work to create a derivative. For example, I have a private chatbot with 20 years of posts like this one plus other content I have created like transcripts of speeches, and I use that private chatbot to help me write. It’s my work and I use AI to help me. And yes, there are those who push back on any new technology. In the past, musicians fought drum machines, electric guitars, microphones, auto-tune, and other technology. Many artists flat out hate AI. While I understand that perspective and I do hate that my work was stolen by the big tech firms, I completely embrace what AI can do for artists! Here are a few interesting takes on this story: [*Nobody Cares If Music Is Real Anymore*](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/07/velvet-sundown-ai-band-spotify/683410/) by Ian Bogost in The Atlantic [*Velvet Sundown*](https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2025/07/01/velvet-sundown/) by Bob Lefsetz ## Name that band My friend Doug and I were talking about the Velvet Sundown. He said: “I'd be interested in how the name of the band was chosen. Was that AI or human?” I said almost is was almost certainly AI with a simple prompt like this: DMS: "*You are an A&R executive for a major record label. You have just signed a new folk-rock band and the band needs a new name evocative of the kind of music they play. Please come up with some band names. The music is similar to the 1960s - 1970s Laurel Canyon sound, reminding listeners of a simpler time of peace and love."* I ran this prompt on ChatGPT and got some really interesting band names!  ChatGPT: Absolutely—here are some evocative band name ideas that fit the Laurel Canyon-inspired folk-rock aesthetic. These names suggest warmth, nostalgia, nature, and the spirit of 1960s–70s California: #### 🌞 Nature & Place-Inspired Canyon Light Sunset Maple Echo Valley Revival The Westward Pines Topanga Dusk Golden Laurel Cedar & Sage Ocean Dust The Painted Hills Juniper Road #### 🎵 Retro & Poetic Hummingbird Radio Yesterday’s Caravan The Violet Hour Kindred Way Paper Lanterns The Evermores Woodsmoke & Wine Songs for June Cottonwood Choir Evening Bell #### ✌️ Peace & Love Vibes Strawberry Moon The Dreaming Kind Peacefield Revival The Wandering Light Havenfolk Rosewood Communion Lovefern Halcyon Caravan Sunfolk Revival The Golden Hour Union AI is here. It helps artists to create. But it doesn’t replace us. [![Fanocracy: Turning Fans into Customers and Customers into Fans](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/413105/3c16ec27-4c68-422d-910a-de4b710b6647.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/413105/3c16ec27-4c68-422d-910a-de4b710b6647) [ David Meerman Scott ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) David Meerman Scott is a business growth strategist, advisor to clever entrepreneurs who are building emerging companies, and the international bestselling author of a dozen books published in 30 languages. David’s high-energy keynote presentations, masterclasses, and virtual events educate, energize, and inspire. Connect: [mailto:david@freshspot.com](mailto:david@freshspot.com) Topics: [ writing ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/writing) [ Music ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/music) [ Artificial Intelligence ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/artificial-intelligence) Don't forget to share this post: ## Related Articles [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/write%20compelling%20headlines.jpg?width=2248&height=1506&name=write%20compelling%20headlines.jpg) ### The Fine Art of Crafting a Not-Quite-Clickbait Headline August 1st, 2025|3 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/the-fine-art-of-crafting-a-not-quite-clickbait-headline) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Vermont%20wilderness%20pond.jpg?width=1500&height=1125&name=Vermont%20wilderness%20pond.jpg) ### Artistic Craft or AI Dreck in 2025? 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