Cardiff rock group Holding Absence have hit out at an AI ‘band’ which has overtaken their streaming figures on Spotify.
Sharing a post on X/Twitter yesterday evening (Tuesday September 30), frontman Lucas Woodland wrote: “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.”
The vocalist continued: “It’s shocking, it’s disheartening, it’s insulting – most importantly – it’s a wake up call.”
Woodland signed off by urging his followers to “oppose AI music, or bands like us stop existing”. Check out the post below.
According to The Music, the AI ‘band’ in question is Bleeding Verse. On the group’s official Instagram page, it is noted that they use “AI-assisted instrumentation and vocals”. Their YouTube channel, which has 2.75k subscribers, includes the same description.
It also namechecks Woodland’s group, reading: “Bleeding Verse is an emotional post-hardcore band crafting cinematic soundscapes and heartbreak-heavy melodies.
“Inspired by artists like Dayseeker and Holding Absence, we blend ambient textures, soaring vocals, and poetic lyricism to explore grief, identity, and healing. Lyrics from the heart. AI-assisted instrumentation and vocals.”
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.
— Lu (@Lucaswoodland) September 30, 2025
Bleeding Verse’s official Spotify profile currently shows that they have 897,349 monthly listeners, at the time of writing. Holding Absence’s page, meanwhile, displays 847,638 monthly streams.
The AI act’s top song – ‘If You Loved Me Then’ – has racked up 2,605,508 plays in total. Holding Absence’s biggest track on the platform – ‘Afterlife’ – boasts an overall stream count of 89,759,788.
The first and only Bleeding Verse album, ‘I Became What You Broke’, was uploaded to Spotify on July 25, ahead of a string of singles and an EP called ‘The Anatomy Of Hurt’.
Elsewhere, some Reddit users have noted that some of Bleeding Verse’s music regularly features on personalised music discovery playlists like Discover Weekly and Release Radar.
Holding Absence released their third and latest studio album, ‘The Noble Art Of Self Destruction’, in 2023 via SharpTone. This summer, they teamed up with Halocene on the collaborative single ‘Bite My Tongue’.
Last week, Spotify confirmed that it was cracking down on AI by removing 75million “spammy tracks” and targeting impersonators. The statement, titled ‘Spotify Strengthens AI Protections For Artists, Songwriters, And Producers’, added: “AI technology is evolving fast, and we’ll continue to roll out new policies frequently.”
This followed a report claiming that AI-generated songs were being uploaded to dead musicians’ Spotify profiles without permission.
Earlier this year, an AI-generated ‘band’ called The Velvet Sundown made headlines after gaining around 400,000 monthly Spotify listeners – despite only existing for less than a month. A ‘spokesperson’ for the viral act later admitted that he was running a hoax aimed at “the media”.
As for how The Velvet Sundown got so many listeners on Spotify, he said: “I know we got on some playlists that just have like tons of followers, and it seems to have spiralled from there.”
Meanwhile, Deezer recently revealed that 28 per cent of music uploaded to the streaming platform was fully AI-generated.
It comes amid a period of controversy for AI technology in music. A study late last year gave a stark warning that people working in the industry were likely to lose a quarter of their income to Artificial Intelligence over the next four years.
Paul McCartney, Kate Bush and Elton John are among the big British artists to have urged Keir Starmer to protect the work of creatives last month. This came after the Prime Minister told NME: “It’s very important we protect creativity, and we’re brilliant at creativity in this country – we punch well above our weight within the country and globally, and we’re all very proud of that.
“We need to get the balance right. That’s why we did a long and important consultation, and we’re going through the responses of that consultation now. So it is a question of getting the balance right.”
His comments followed a call on the UK government from various major acts to change copyright laws to combat the tech as it progresses rapidly. Elton John claimed in January that AI would “dilute and threaten young artists’ earnings”, while backing criticism from Paul McCartney.
Recently, Kehlani hit out at an AI-generated artist receiving a $3million (£2.2million) record deal. Other critics of the tech include Mac DeMarco and SZA, while ABBA‘s Björn Ulvaeus has called AI “such a great tool”.
Yesterday Spotify founder Daniel Ek announced that he would be stepping down from the role of CEO. He had previously received backlash for issues regarding artist payment.