The enigmatic vocalist has received millions of streams, but who or what is she?

Sienna Rose is having a fantastic month.

The song has been played more than five million times.

Three of his dark, jazz-infused soul songs are in Spotify’s Viral Top 50. The most popular, a dreamy song called Into the Blue, has been played more than five million times.

If she continues on this path, Rose could become one of the hottest new stars of the year.

There’s just one problem: all signs point to him not being real.

Streaming service Deezer, which has developed tools to deal with AI music, told the BBC that “many of its albums and songs on the platform have been identified and marked as computer-generated.”.

Look closely and you’ll see signs of an AI artist. Rose has no social media presence, he’s never played a show, he doesn’t have any videos and he’s released an incredible number of songs in a very short period of time.

Between September 28 and December 5, she uploaded at least 45 tracks to streaming services. Even Prince, the artist known for his restless creative frenzy, would have struggled to match that figure.

His Instagram account, which is currently inactive, featured a strangely symmetrical series of headshots, all showing the blurry, unrealistic lighting that is characteristic of an AI image generator.

Then there is the music. Songs like Into the Blue and Breathe Again are graceful next to Norah Jones or Alicia Keys, filled with jazzy guitar lines and buttery smooth vocals.

But several listeners have noticed what they identified as “AI artefacts”.

Play Under the Rain or Breathe Again and you’ll hear an audible whisper throughout the track.

This is a common trait of music produced on apps like Listen and Udio —partially because of the way they start with white noise and gradually refine it until it sounds like music.

It is this quirk that enables Deezer to mark AI songs.

“When [software] has all the layers and devices it connects, it introduces errors,” explains Gabriel Meseguer-Brocal, senior research scientist at the streaming company.

“They’re not perceptible; we can’t hear them, but they’re easy to identify if you do some mathematical operations.”

Meseguer-Brocal says the errors work like fingerprints, with a “unique signature” that means it’s possible to trace which piece of software was used to create any given piece of music.

For casual listeners, there are other telltale signs: inconsistent drum patterns, monotonous lyrics, and a singer who never strays from the melody or lets loose with the final chorus.

That “normal” sound has been Sienna Rose’s biggest clue to some listeners.

“I was like, ‘I like this,’ but there was something there that was very ‘uncanny valley’,” TikTok music critic Elosi57 said.

“So I went to see [at her profile] And I said, ‘It’s AI.'”

another user Posted on x: “Started listening to Olivia Dean (fantastic). Within two days Spotify recommended Sienna Rose, who has a similar sound but is more generic. It took me a few songs to realise she was an AI.”

Broadcaster Gemma Cairney told BBC Radio 4, “Her pictures seem a bit surreal… and after listening to the music, is there a part of her soul missing?”

To be fair, many other people have become fans of Rose’s songs.

They also include pop star Selena Gomez, who used Rose’s track “Where Your Warmth Begins” as the background of an Instagram post about Sunday’s Golden Globes.

The song was later removed when questions about Rose’s identity spread online, but Gomez’s post brought interest in Rose and her identity to a new level.

And many listeners playing Rose’s music were disappointed when they learnt he no longer existed.

“Please tell me he’s real.” Pinned one on threads.

“I’m disappointed because some of their songs came out and the music is not bad.” Another nod on BlueSky. “[But] someone said, ‘Once you know it, it seems soulless,’ and I agree.”

Of course, it’s entirely possible that everyone misunderstood the situation, and Sienna Rose is a genuine singer who remains hidden from the spotlight. Maybe he’s in witness protection. Perhaps she is a real singer, embroiled in a contract dispute with her label and releasing music under a pseudonym.

If so, I’m sorry. It would be crushing to have your music labelled soulless “slop”. But it’s indicative of the problem the entire music industry is facing right now.

AI software is becoming so sophisticated that cloned artists are competing with real musicians.

One song was chart-topping in Sweden this week banned from charts When journalists discovered that the artist behind it, Jacob, did not exist.

There are many people – both in tech companies and on the business side of the music industry – who want to see AI succeed.

The costs of launching an act like Sienna Rose are practically zero, but her music is earning an estimated £2,000 per week in royalties.

Compare this to the K-pop industry, where labels invest an average of $1 million (£750,000) per year per member of a girl or boy group, and you can see the attraction.

Interestingly, many of Rose’s tracks are credited to US indie record label Brock – who have a track record of turning viral artists like bbno$ and Ndotz into chart stars.

If you visit their website, Rose is not listed as one of their signees – but British dance act Heaven is.

If that name rings a bell, it’s because they got into trouble late last year for creating a song using an AI clone of Jorja Smith’s voice.

Their song was ‘Run’. Removed from streaming services After the track was issued a takedown notice by record industry bodies, alleging that the track infringed copyright, it was re-recorded with human vocals and entered the UK top 10 two weeks later.

The BBC has contacted Brock to ask about his relationship with Sienna Rose but has not yet heard back.

The BBC has also contacted another label, Nostalgic Records, which lists Rose on its website.

The Nostalgic Records biography claims she is “London-based” and says she is “not just an artist, but a storyteller at heart”.

Deezer says that 34% of songs uploaded to its streaming service – about 50,000 per day – are AI-generated.

“Eighteen months ago, it was about 5% or 6%,” says Meseguer-Brocal. “It’s kind of shocking how fast it’s growing.”

Still, Deezer hasn’t gone as far as online music store Bandcamp, which announced this week that it was banning all AI-generated music.

In a statement, Spotify defended the presence of artists like Rose on its playlists.

A spokesperson said, “It is not always possible to draw a simple line between ‘AI’ and ‘non-AI’ music.” “Spotify does not produce or own any music and does not promote or penalise tracks created using AI tools.”

Meanwhile, the backlash against AI music is growing.

Last year, artists including Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Damon Albarn, the Pet Shop Boys and Annie Lennox released a “silent album” protesting against companies that train their AI models on copyrighted works without permission.

Speaking at the Ivor Novello Awards in 2024, pop star Ray told me he believes fans will always choose real music over algorithm-generated filler.

“There is no reason to feel threatened,” he said. “I don’t write because I’m trying to be the best writer. I write because I’m trying to tell my story.

“I’m trying to lift some of the weight I’ve been carrying or I’m trying to express myself and feel better.”

At the same event, Koje Radikal said that he was not worried about AI, while he also did not trust his washing machine to start on time.

“Why is everyone trying to scare me with robots?” He laughed.

“I’m not afraid of robots. I will win.”