Fake AI song infiltrates Bon Iver side project’s official Spotify page

A fake AI-generated song has appeared on Volcano Choir’s official Spotify page, despite the acclaimed Bon Iver side project being dormant since 2013. The incident highlights Spotify’s ongoing struggle with AI-generated content, occurring just days after the platform announced new policies to combat “AI slop” that deceives listeners and diverts royalties from legitimate artists.

What happened: A suspicious new single titled “Silkymoon Light” suddenly appeared on Volcano Choir’s verified Spotify profile this week with no official announcement from the band or their label, Jagjaguwar.

• The track features robotic vocals that poorly imitate Justin Vernon’s distinctive voice, singing generic lyrics like “Our love will always find a way.”
• The song lacks any intro and immediately launches into a forgettable country-inflected ballad with telltale signs of cheap AI production.
• The accompanying album art appears AI-generated, featuring a moon with another smaller moon in the background and the characteristic “shellacked” look of AI-created imagery.

Why this matters: The incident exposes the limitations of Spotify’s current anti-AI measures and demonstrates how bad actors can exploit official artist profiles to distribute fake content.

• Volcano Choir, fronted by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, hasn’t released new music since their 2013 album “Repave” and has been on hiatus since ending their last tour in November 2014.
• The fake song also appeared on other platforms including Tidal and Deezer, though notably not on Apple Music.

Spotify’s AI problem: The timing couldn’t be more ironic, coming just days after Spotify officially acknowledged being “overrun by AI slop.”

• The company announced new policies this week to protect artists against “spam, impersonation, and deception,” warning that harmful AI content “degrades the user experience for listeners and often attempts to divert royalties to bad actors.”
• Spotify plans to roll out new spam filters designed to detect common tactics used by spammers to game the platform’s royalties system.
• Earlier this year, a self-proclaimed “indie rock band” called The Velvet Sundown racked up millions of streams before being exposed as an entirely AI-generated hoax.

The big picture: The incident demonstrates that despite Spotify’s recent policy announcements, the platform still struggles to identify and prevent AI-generated content from infiltrating official artist profiles.

• There’s currently no indication on the track that it was produced using AI, making it difficult for listeners to identify as fake content.
• The case shows how AI slop can potentially damage established artists’ reputations by associating low-quality content with their official profiles.