Indie Band Claims AI Hijacked Their Billie Eilish Cover on Spotify!

The indie band Torus from Milton Keynes recently claimed that artificial intelligence was used to steal and recreate their music. The band had posted a short teaser of themselves performing a grunge-style cover of Billie Eilish's 'Ocean Eyes' on TikTok. The clip quickly gained popularity, prompting the band to work on a full version of the cover. However, before they could release their own version, they discovered that a similar track had already appeared on Spotify. This track was uploaded by an artist known as Independent Lemon, who is known for uploading many covers but has no social media presence, no record label, and no live performances. Spotify responded to the band's complaint by removing the track after investigating the issue. Torus suspects that someone used generative AI to take their short TikTok clip and predict how the rest of the song would sound, effectively creating a full-length version based on their performance. The band noticed that the Independent Lemon version started with what sounded like their own performance, but then continued for several more minutes. Singer and guitarist Alfie Glass initially thought that a real person had simply covered their cover, but after listening more closely, he realized that the new track was almost identical to their own, even down to the drum patterns. Drummer Jack Orr added that it seemed like someone had looped their original clip and then used AI to add new parts, such as a guitar riff. Independent Lemon has a large following on Spotify, with nearly 700,000 monthly listeners and around 100 singles uploaded in the past year. Many of these are covers of popular songs, sometimes altered to be faster, slower, or in a different genre. Some of these covers have been streamed millions of times.

Torus spent about a month recording their own version of 'Ocean Eyes,' aiming to capture the same feeling as their viral TikTok clip. Alfie Glass expressed frustration that someone else could use AI to create a similar version in just seconds, while it took them weeks of hard work. Jack Orr said that while making covers of covers is generally acceptable, the main issue is giving proper credit to the original artists. He pointed out that the AI-generated version was almost an exact copy, especially in the drum patterns, and that it did not show any real inspiration or creativity. The band reported the suspected AI track to Spotify, hoping it would be taken down. The BBC tried to contact Independent Lemon for a comment but was unable to reach them.

Simon Holland, a professor of music and human-computer interaction at the Open University, explained that AI can now generate music from just a few words or a short audio sample. He said that while the quality of AI-generated music is often not very high, a good demo can help the AI produce something that sounds polished. After listening to some of Independent Lemon's tracks, Professor Holland said it was difficult to say for sure if they were AI-generated, but he noticed that the vocals and music were less clear, which is a common sign of AI involvement. Despite these concerns, Professor Holland is optimistic that musicians will not be replaced by AI. He believes that musicians will adapt by creating new styles of music that AI cannot easily copy. He also said that it is not a good situation when AI is used to copy music from original artists without giving them credit. Spotify has reached out to Torus and reminded users that they can report any tracks they believe infringe on their rights. Torus hopes their experience will encourage other musicians to be cautious when sharing their work online and to stand up for their creative rights.