The lead singer of Welsh rockers Holding Absence has encouraged fans to “oppose AI music” as a non-existent band modelled on his group’s music overtake them in Spotify listeners.
Lucas Woodland took to X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, September 30, to take aim at AI-generated ‘band’ Bleeding Verse as they reach more than 900,000 monthly listeners, overtaking Holding Absence’s 851,000.
Bleeding Verse’s ‘music’ is openly based on Holding Absence’s. The description on the fake band’s YouTube channel says they’re “inspired by artists like Dayseeker and Holding Absence” and use “AI-assisted instrumentation and vocals”.
Woodland’s X post says the fact that Bleeding Verse overtook his band in numbers is “shocking”, “disheartening” and “insulting”.
It reads in full: “So, an AI ‘band’ who cite us as an influence (ie, it’s modelled off our music) have just overtaken us on Spotify, in only TWO months.
“It’s shocking, it’s disheartening, it’s insulting – most importantly – it’s a wake up call.
“Oppose AI music, or bands like us stop existing.”
In the replies to the post, Woodland encourages fans to “violently support real music”. He adds: “Buy merch. Attend shows. That’s the most we can do for now.”
Holding Absence formed in Cardiff in 2015; Woodland joined the band in 2016 and is their longest-serving current member. They inked a deal with SharpTone Records in 2017 and their biggest hit, 2021’s Afterlife, boasts more than 89 million Spotify streams. By comparison, Bleeding Verse’s biggest ‘song’, If You Loved Me Then, currently has 2.6 million streams.
Bleeding Verse ‘music’ has been uploaded to Spotify at a rapid rate. Their ‘debut album’, I Became What You Broke, was put up in July, and they’ve uploaded a string of standalone singles as well as an EP since then. Their Spotify profile describes the project as, “Human lyrics, turned to songs with AI.”
This isn’t the first time an AI-generated ‘band’ has amassed a notable number of listeners. In June, the non-existent psychedelic group The Velvet Sundown had more than half a million Spotify monthly listeners, leading to widespread uproar.
Last week, Spotify announced that it intended to crack down on AI-generated tracks on the platform, saying that it had removed more than 75 million “spammy” songs in the past year. The company added that the presence of AI ‘songs’ was not impacting revenue earned by human artists in a “meaningful” way.
However, Spotify has allowed ‘bands’ like The Velvet Sundown to remain, as such ‘artists’ do not violate the new anti-spam policies.
So, an AI “band” who cite us as an influence (ie, it’s modelled off our music) have just overtaken us on Spotify, in only TWO months.It’s shocking, it’s disheartening, it’s insulting - most importantly - it’s a wake up call. Oppose AI music, or bands like us stop existing.September 30, 2025
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