Photo Credit: Bootleggers Newtown (Good Intent Music)
A Sydney music services agency has issued an apology after being called out for booking an AI artist for an event, a move they claim was a mistake.
Sydney-based booking agency Good Intent Music has issued an apology on social media after being called out for booking an AI artist for an event. Good Intent founder and director Rob Carroll took full responsibility for the matter, noting that the submission looked consistent with that of a genuine artist, and that he did not check their social media presence in advance.
The issue was first brought up by artist Aidan Sammut, who performed as part of a lineup at Bootleggers Newtown alongside Genevieve Brouillard. Sammut noted that “the artist that played before us was AI-generated,” and that it was “a complete insult” to the rest of the lineup.
“At no point was it disclosed to us that we would be playing with an AI artist,” Sammut said, pointing out that the booking was controlled by Good Intent. “In fact, we only found out because a member of another band had happened to go through their Instagram account. The account contains AI-generated visuals over what I’m fairly certain is AI-generated music, lyrics, and vocals. Worse still, there was no disclosure on any of the event’s promotional material that it contained an artist that was AI-generated.”
“There is no place for generative AI slop in the live music scene,” Sammut continued. “The appeal of live performance is that it is raw, it is passionate, and that it is human. AI music delivers none of this, while robbing the opportunity to do so from genuinely talented human musicians who can.”
The lineup consisted of four acts, including The Duke of Randwick and Pillar Lane. The AI artist in question is known as Afro Charles, whose Spotify biography describes them as a “Sydney-based pop music band made up of three: Afro Charles, Mei Ling, and Damian Amamoo. Afro Charles is a male, virtual avatar of Damian. Mei Ling is a female virtual avatar who sings alongside Afro Charles. Damian is the lyricist, vocals (live performances), and producer.”
So how does an AI artist perform live? Afro Charles explains in their bio: “Damian will sing and perform the band’s songs live on stage, adding his vocals to Afro’s and Mei Ling’s vocals.” The band hopes to have other performers on stage with them in time, “playing orchestral instruments that appear in [their] songs, like the saxophone, cello, violin, and others.”
But it appears the whole thing was a lack of due diligence on the part of the booking agency. Good Intent founder and director Rob Carroll took to Instagram to issue a statement—and take “full responsibility” for the mistake.
“I didn’t look at this particular artist’s socials, and their representatives’ communication used wording consistent with genuine artists,” Carroll admitted. “Their representative described them to us as a ‘producer’ who used ‘live vocals’ in their sets. This person was booked through an agency, who presented themselves as professional.”
“I hadn’t seen them live, but now looking at their socials—their content is clearly and blatantly AI,” Carroll added, explaining that both Bootleggers and Good Intent will be making a donation to the Support Act to “put [their] money where [their] mouth is.”
“We’ll ensure we review our vetting processes moving forward; we’d never want to be placed in a position where we’re encouraging the use of AI and financially supporting the theft from artists on which AI is trained,” the statement continued. “Apologies, and thanks for bringing it to our attention. We’ll make sure to do better. We don’t support AI; we support genuine artists.”
The timing couldn’t be worse for such a mix-up. That same day, numerous Australian musicians made a major push for stronger copyright protections for artists in the face of increasing AI use, as well as growing concerns over artists’ work being used to train AI models without permission or compensation. Last week, they issued an open letter to the government and descended upon Parliament House in Canberra to make their voices heard.
