A soul singer who captivated Spotify listeners with her 'beautiful' voice and amassed significant streaming revenue has been exposed as a complete fabrication, generated entirely by artificial intelligence. The artist, known as Sienna Rose, was reportedly earning around £2,000 a day from her music before the revelation.
The Rise and Fall of a Virtual Soul Star
Sienna Rose burst onto the music scene with a series of sultry hits that drew comparisons to acclaimed English singer Olivia Dean. Fans praised her 'captivating' vocals, unaware they were listening to an AI model. Her prolific output included a six-track EP titled Velvet Embrace in September, followed by an eight-track project the next month, and a nine-track EP called The Shape of Tenderness in November. She culminated this run with a ten-track 'debut album', Honey On The Moon, in December.
Her artist biography painted a compelling picture: 'Inspired by the analogue textures of 1960s soul yet rooted in today's sound, Sienna's music feels cinematic and deeply personal. Every note she sings carries a sense of truth and beauty.' This narrative, it is now clear, was as synthetic as the voice itself.
The Creator Behind the AI Acts
According to reports, Sienna Rose is the creation of the same individual responsible for an AI reggae act named Let Babylon Burn, which boasts 756,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. The figure believed to be behind both projects is Robert Lancaster, though details about him remain scarce. Despite the exposure, Spotify has continued to host Sienna Rose's music without any disclaimer informing listeners that the artist is not a real person.
When questioned, Spotify stated that a wide variety of acts use AI in music production, making it difficult to police and label such content. This stance stands in stark contrast to other platforms. Music site Bandcamp announced this week that it explicitly bans 'music generated wholly or in substantial part by AI.'
Spotify's AI Policy and Industry Backlash
Spotify has recently taken a harder line on AI that impersonates real artists without permission. The platform confirmed it will 'remove music that impersonates another artist's voice without their permission', whether created by AI voice cloning or other methods. This policy extends to tracks where the impersonated artist is not named but the vocals are 'clearly recognisable'.
In a significant crackdown, Spotify removed a staggering 75 million AI-generated tracks in the year leading to September and has introduced new tools to combat AI spam uploads. The issue has sparked major concern within the music industry. In May, legends including Paul McCartney and Elton John were among 400 creatives signing an open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. They urged the government to force AI firms to reveal copyrighted works used to train their models, calling copyright 'the lifeblood of the creative industries'.
The letter warned: 'We will lose an immense growth opportunity if we give our work away at the behest of a handful of powerful overseas tech companies and with it our future income.' Earlier in the year, artists like Kate Bush and Damon Albarn supported a silent 47-minute protest album titled 'Is This What We Want?', highlighting the use of unlicensed copyrighted work to train AI systems.
The case of Sienna Rose underscores the complex challenges and ethical dilemmas facing the music industry as AI technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, blurring the lines between human artistry and digital fabrication.
