EDM Producers Hunt Down AI Music Grifters — SkimNews
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- Max "H4ARRIS" Harris, a 26-year-old EDM producer from Maine, makes YouTube videos calling out suspected AI tracks and points to audio tells like vocals and melodic elements "stuttering at the same exact time" — a quirk he attributes to Suno's models failing to separate song parts.
- Nihil Young, a 39-year-old Italian turntabilist whose Threads posts inspired Harris, received hacking attempts, harassment, and fake Spotify followers after calling out Suno users; he also says he began losing audio mixing clients to AI shortly after generative tools rolled out, despite past work for Sony Music, Warner, and Universal.
- Harris and other EDM fans flagged MANSA's "Midnight on My Mind" and Danny and Ian Asher's "Take Me (To The Moon)" as suspected AI tracks, though the artists have not publicly confirmed using generative tools and Harris could be wrong.
- AI-generated music has crossed into the mainstream: Metro Boomin's "BBL Drizzy" — built on comedian King Willonius' Udio-generated track — peaked at No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 after Drake rapped over the beat on Sexyy Red's "U My Everything."
- AI artists Breaking Rust and Cain Walker appeared on Billboard's Country Digital Song sales chart, and Hallwood Media — founded by former Geffen Records president Neil Jacobson — signed AI avatar Xania Monet to a $3 million recording deal.
- Both producers blame AI platform Suno for the flood of AI tracks, with Young noting Suno's Simple Mode lets users generate songs by selecting a genre and clicking a button — a process Young says "requires basically zero thinking."
Why it matters: Working producers report losing paid clients to AI tools, while AI-generated tracks simultaneously land Billboard chart placements and $3 million record deals — a split-screen that shows the technology is simultaneously undercutting human musicians and being absorbed into the industry's economic center. The callout culture carries real personal costs, with Young facing hacking attempts and harassment for naming names.
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