AI music detectors flagged every track on a 2026 album made without generative artificial intelligence, according to tests by International Artist Marketing (IAM). The results raise questions about how automated assessments affect independent musicians whose work uses synthesizers, drum machines and processed vocals.
Album and archival tracks flagged
In June 2026, Hamburg musician André Grafert, who records as Coloured Tears, released DECAY / TIME: A Tribute to Twice a Man. Grafert played, programmed, sang and produced its 23 covers of songs by the Swedish post-punk band Twice a Man, without generative AI. He subsequently faced public accusations that he had used AI.
IAM’s Ines Weidemann tested all 23 tracks with SubmitHub and checked several with other detectors. SubmitHub rated every track as potentially AI-generated; the other tools predominantly classified the tracks as AI. SubmitHub, Let’s Submit, TrackVerifier and ACRCloud have classified music with features such as sequencers, synthetic soundscapes and altered voices as possibly artificially generated.
Weidemann also tested original Twice a Man recordings made roughly four decades ago. SubmitHub rated seven as “possible AI/hybrid” and associated two with specific AI platforms:
- “Across the Ocean” (1984): “Treblo_v3”
- “In My Mind” (1982): “ElevenLabs Music”
Concerns for independent artists
“It cannot be right that newcomer bands today have to prove with individual tracks that they are real people, while no one would ever doubt the big, established acts,” Grafert said. He described making his music note by note in Cubase, using Sequential’s Prophet X, Prophet 12, Pro 3 and Rev2 instruments, NI Kontakt and his own vocals.
IAM says false positives can lead to blocked accounts or releases and withheld royalties, with independent artists particularly exposed. A voluntary labeling standard backed by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the Recording Industry Association of America and the American Association of Independent Music relies on labels and distributors to disclose AI use. Independent musicians using do-it-yourself distributors may instead encounter automated filters.
