Holding Absence vocalist Lucas Woodland has publicly called out an AI-assisted band for allegedly modeling their music after his band and subsequently overtaking Holding Absence‘s monthly listener count on Spotify in two months time. Taking to social media last night, September 30th, Woodland stated:
“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.”
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
While Woodland did not name the band in question, it is thought to be the AI-assisted outfit Bleeding Verse, who currently command 897,349 listeners on Spotify as of press time. Holding Absence currently have 847,638 monthly listeners on the aforementioned digital service provider.
Bleeding Verse have been upfront about the nature of their music, publicly proclaiming they utilize “AI-assisted vocals and instrumentation.” Their most popular song on Spotify at the moment is the below track “If You Loved Me Then“, which has been streamed over 2.6 million times.
Since making his initial post mentioned above, Woodland has shared several follow-up posts today, October 01st, they include:
“What can we do?” – I believe we can only lobby for transparency now. Those artists should have “AI” on their Spotify artwork, so that playlists can’t sneak them onto playlists. Otherwise, violently support real music. Buy merch. Attend shows. That’s the most we can do for now
“Make better music” was my favourite take btw. These models are LITERALLY TRAINED OFF MY BAND lmao. And then releasing songs at a pace physically impossible to replicate Chess robots have been beating human world champions for 30 years now. “Get good” is a petulant opinion.
Holding Absence‘s most popular track on Spotify is “Afterlife“, which currently sits at nearly 90 million streams. You can view the official music video for below:
“What can we do?” – I believe we can only lobby for transparency now. Those artists should have “AI” on their Spotify artwork, so that playlists can’t sneak them onto playlists.Otherwise, violently support real music. Buy merch. Attend shows. That’s the most we can do for now
— Lu (@Lucaswoodland) October 1, 2025
“Make better music” was my favourite take btw. These models are LITERALLY TRAINED OFF MY BAND lmao. And then releasing songs at a pace physically impossible to replicate Chess robots have been beating human world champions for 30 years now. “Get good” is a petulant opinion.
— Lu (@Lucaswoodland) October 1, 2025
