AI Hitmakers and Algorithmic Hype: How Tech Took the Wheel in Culture

Meet The Velvet Sundown - a psychedelic rock “band” with over 400,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, two albums released in June, and zero confirmed human members. Their Spotify profile is verified, their bios are gibberish, and their band photos look like they were dreamt up by a machine. That’s because they probably were.

No one asked for an AI psych-rock band. But platforms made space for one. That’s the story.

Streaming services like Deezer report that nearly 20 percent of daily uploads are now fully AI-generated. No disclosure required. Spotify’s algorithms surface tracks based on predictive engagement patterns, not provenance or intent. For most users, that’s invisible. For brands, artists and culture strategists - it’s existential.

What we’re witnessing isn’t just the rise of AI in music. It’s the wider transformation of cultural influence from a human-led ecosystem to a machine-optimised economy. Tech isn’t just the stage anymore. It’s the writer, the producer and - most powerfully - the recommender.

This shift matters. Because for decades, cultural influence came from the margins. It started with subcultures, underground movements, niche tastemakers. But today, cultural moments increasingly start with algorithmic visibility: TikTok virality, FYP formatting, playlist placement.

Generative tools like AI image-makers or text-to-music models might still feel novel - but they’re scaling fast, and so are the incentives to use them. For platforms, synthetic content is cheap, controllable, and doesn’t argue about royalties. For brands chasing ‘always-on’ presence, it's tempting too.

But there’s a cost. When cultural relevance is reduced to performance metrics and recommendation logic, we risk losing the depth, risk-taking and community-first thinking that actually makes culture stick.

For brands and creators that care about legacy, not just visibility, this is the moment to double down on intent. The best strategy now isn’t to ignore tech - it’s to use it critically. To understand how it’s shaping taste and attention, yes - but to invest even harder in human insight, creative bravery and cultural point of view.

Because in this new era, the question isn’t can you scale content with AI. It’s: should you?

And if your brand wants to lead culture - not just fill the feed - you’ll need more than tools. You’ll need taste.