We are being robbed in broad daylight, and the people who are supposed to protect music—labels, distributors, and streaming platforms—are standing there watching it happen. While AI promoters keep insisting the “benefits” will outweigh the damage, the reality is that our names and legacies are being used like unlocked credit cards. Major labels have gone from suing big AI music firms like Sumo to partnering with them, and in the middle of that chaos, human creators get squeezed while AI operators and fraudsters move faster than anyone can respond. The worst part isn’t even how quickly AI can generate convincing music now—it’s how easily scammers are getting that fake music attached to official artist accounts across DSPs, making it look legitimate to everyday listeners. That’s the trap: the fraud isn’t just in the sound, it’s in the credibility of the verified profile itself, and streaming companies are asleep at the switch while the deception spreads.
Look at what just happened on December 10th. The latest victims were DOC WATSON—a legendary, 7-time Grammy-winning bluegrass, folk, and country icon—and THE DILLARDS, a pioneering bluegrass group. Both suddenly “released” new albums. The only problem? DOC WATSON has been dead since 2012, and THE DILLARDS have never sounded like the dated, Y2K-style Muzak country that showed up under their name. A 10-song album titled Roses Never Came appeared on streaming services copyrighted to DOC WATSON, with every track marked as written, produced, and performed by him, paired with a clearly AI-generated album cover and AI-generated music. This isn’t some harmless experiment—this is impersonation packaged as a real release. And THE DILLARDS were hit with the same exact scam: their own album Roses Never Came—fifteen tracks—showed up credited entirely to THE DILLARDS, even though it’s obviously not them, yet it was still distributed through their official streaming profiles. And let’s be clear: THE DILLARDS are not just a name from history. Formed in 1963, they are officially still around, with members Rodney Dillard and Beverly Cotton-Dillard—real people who have to watch their identity get used to sell fake music.
And this isn’t the first time. The same kind of fraud hit DON WILLIAMS in early November, when a fake album attributed to him appeared on streaming services in an unusually aggressive wave of AI-driven deception. Even after fans reported it and people demanded takedowns, it still took many days for the fraudulent release to disappear—proving that the systems are slow, sloppy, and totally unprepared. It’s almost guaranteed DON WILLIAMS, DOC WATSON, and THE DILLARDS aren’t the only targets; they’re just the ones we can see. Even more alarming, country and roots music have become an unlikely epicenter for this AI fraud, with AI songs charting on Billboard and fake AI artists targeting these formats over EDM, hip-hop, pop, and other electronic-heavy genres—because scammers know that when the music is built on authenticity and tradition, hijacking a trusted name is the fastest way to fool people. And as the latest music-generation tools improve, the electronic “tell” is becoming harder to detect, meaning this deception is only going to get more convincing, more scalable, and more profitable for criminals.