By Wellett Potter
Publication Date: 2025-12-11 00:44:00
Imagine this: A band removes their entire music catalog from Spotify in protest, only to find that an AI-generated impersonator has replaced it. The impersonator offers songs that are very similar to the band’s originals.
The scammer tops Spotify search results for the band’s music – attracting numerous streams – and goes undetected for months.
As unbelievable as it may sound, that’s exactly what happened to Australian prog-rock band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard
In July, the band publicly pulled their music from Spotify to protest CEO Daniel Ek’s investments in an AI weapons company.
Within months, outraged fans drew attention to a new account called “King Lizard Wizard.”
It featured AI-generated songs with identical titles and lyrics and similar-sounding music to the original band. (And it’s not the first case of a fake Spotify account impersonating the band).