Three artificial intelligence-generated songs have climbed to the top of Spotify and Billboard charts, marking a significant milestone for AI in the music industry.
Two tracks by the group Breaking Rust, “Walk My Walk” and “Livin’ on Borrowed Time,” secured the top spots on Spotify’s daily “Viral 50” chart in the US. Simultaneously, a Dutch anti-migrant song, “We Say No, No, No to an Asylum Center” by an artist known as JW “Broken Veteran,” reached number one on the global version of the same viral chart. Breaking Rust also placed in the top five globally.
For three consecutive weeks, “Walk My Walk” has also led Billboard’s “Country Digital Song Sales” chart, which tracks digital purchases.
Days after its rise, the Dutch song and all other music by “Broken Veteran” were removed from Spotify and YouTube. A Spotify spokesperson told the Dutch outlet NU.nl that the rights holders, not the platform, had removed the music. The creator, who did not know why his work was taken down, stated he was investigating and hoped to have it restored.
In a statement, “Broken Veteran,” who wished to remain anonymous, described AI as “just another tool for expression, particularly valuable for people like me who have something to say but lack traditional musical training,” adding that the technology has “democratized music creation.” He claimed his songs “express frustration with governmental policies, not with migrants as individuals.”
The success of these tracks highlights a massive influx of AI-generated content onto streaming platforms. A recent study by the streaming service Deezer estimated that 50,000 AI-generated songs are uploaded to its platform daily, accounting for 34% of all new music submissions. This follows a similar viral event last summer when the AI-generated group Velvet Sundown garnered over a million streams on Spotify in what a member later called an “art hoax.”
Ed Newton-Rex, founder of a non-profit advocating for fair AI training practices, attributes the rise of AI hits to their sheer volume. “It’s part of the very rapid trend of AI music gaining in popularity essentially because it’s spreading in volume,” he said. “You have a new, hyperscalable competitor and, moreover, this competitor that was built by exploitation.”
The quality of AI music has also improved to the point of being indistinguishable from human-created work. Deezer’s study, which surveyed 9,000 people, found that 97% could not tell the difference. “I think it’s fair to say you can’t distinguish the best AI music from human-composed music now,” Newton-Rex confirmed.
This viral success is also fueled by a growing ecosystem of digital distribution services that allow individual creators to easily upload their music to major platforms. Services like DistroKid, Amuse, and CDBaby funnel royalties to creators for every stream on Spotify, YouTube, or TikTok. Several of Breaking Rust’s hits appear to have been distributed through DistroKid, which is often described as having more lenient policies on AI-generated content.
“Basically every piece of AI music you see isn’t distributed by a regular label,” said Chris Dalla Riva, an author who studies music virality. “They’re made by a person in their bedroom and uploaded to these distribution sites.”
When asked for comment, Spotify directed attention to its existing policy on AI-generated content. Breaking Rust did not respond to a request for comment.
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