AI-generated fake country singers are regularly among the most listened to in the United States, a phenomenon limited for now to this genre which has become very popular again, where the industry sees the consequence of a standardization of big productions.
Breaking Rust, Cain Walker, Aventhis, or Outlaw Gospel have more in common than a cowboy hat and leather jacket, which are standard for many country singers. Their name, image, and songs have all been generated by artificial intelligence (AI) with several incursions into the American charts.
“This is a phenomenon I didn’t see coming,” admits Jennie Hayes Kurtz from the country group Brother and The Hayes. “I thought AI was going to help eradicate cancer,” she says with a smile.
Many of these songs draw from the well-known image of the solitary, rough, silent cowboy, but also an advocate of straightforwardness. All delivered in a voice more lifelike than natural.
“It’s creepy because we see many people just inputting words into a chatbot that then creates a song for them,” reacts Kassie Jordan, who forms the duo Blue Honey with her husband Troy Brooks. “As a songwriter like us, you wonder if people will believe you actually wrote your song.”
Joe Bennett, a musicology professor at Berklee College of Music, notices in several of these AI-generated fake country singers “similarities that suggest that the prompt (the instructions given to the AI assistant) was not particularly detailed.”
None of the producers of these synthetic artists contacted by AFP responded.
How did 100% AI manage to make its mark on a music deeply rooted in humanity, a blend of folk, blues, and even gospel?
Joe Bennett finds in the emergence of modern country in the early 2000s one of the keys to the mystery.
“Contemporary country has very specific characteristics,” explains the academic, “and a very worked sound, with the same instruments that come back and often the same melodic forms.”
– “Superficial” –
Once relegated by rap and then by the Latin wave, initially penalized by the dematerialization of music, country has commercially bounced back thanks to a generation of artists often closer to pop than folk.
Following in the footsteps of Taylor Swift, who has embodied this movement since 2006, today’s headliners wear baseball caps rather than cowboy hats, and their music no longer has a specific label, at a time when Beyoncé or Post Malone successfully join the country universe.
In 2025, genre stars Morgan Wallen and Zach Bryan were both among the top ten most listened to artists on Spotify in the United States.
Some see this rise as a simplified formula to please the masses.
“The lyrics of a good portion of popular country music have become a bit superficial, so easier for AI to copy,” laments Kassie Jordan.
Joe Bennett advocates for better identification of AI content, with only Deezer systematically designating them among the major streaming platforms.
“There is a demand for non-AI content,” he insists.
According to Jennie Hayes Kurtz, among consumers of popular country, “there is a lot of passive listening,” “and I don’t think these people really care whether it is AI-generated or not.”
“But there are active listeners, who are more interested in what I do,” she adds. “They go to concerts, buy physical albums, and really care about knowing that it’s all done by humans.”
Kassie Jordan remains optimistic despite the ambient anxiety.
“A new wave is emerging,” she announces, “which does things more traditionally, puts in emotion, which will be harder for AI to replicate, and I think they can save the genre.”
