According to TechSpot, an entirely AI-generated artist called Breaking Rust just hit number one on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart with a song called “Walk My Walk.” The project first appeared around October and debuted at No. 9 on the Emerging Artists chart on November 1 after generating 1.6 million official US streams. Breaking Rust now boasts over 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify and has a Verified Artist badge, despite the songs all sounding remarkably similar. The project is credited to songwriter Aubierre Rivaldo Taylor, who may not even be a real person. This marks the first time an AI-created song has topped the charts, setting a concerning precedent for the music industry.
The AI music floodgates are opening
Here’s the thing: AI artists aren’t new, but hitting number one on Billboard? That’s different. We’ve seen projects like The Velvet Sundown gain attention, but Breaking Rust’s chart success basically proves there’s money to be made. And when there’s money involved, you can bet we’re about to see an absolute flood of similar AI-generated content.
What’s especially wild is how generic this stuff sounds. The TechSpot writer noted that all of Breaking Rust’s songs sound like samples from the same track. Yet it’s pulling millions of streams. Makes you wonder how much of music consumption has become background noise rather than active listening.
Real musicians should be worried
This isn’t just about some novelty act. Real musicians have been protesting AI companies using their work to train models without permission – over 1,000 artists released a silent album earlier this year protesting UK law changes. Now they’re facing competition from systems trained on the very music they created.
Think about that for a second. Your own style, your own sound, gets fed into an AI that then cranks out endless variations that compete directly with you. And these AI projects don’t need breaks, don’t get tired, and don’t demand fair compensation. It’s a nightmare scenario for working musicians already struggling in the streaming economy.
The fraudulent streams problem is real
Deezer revealed back in June that while AI-generated music accounted for just 0.5% of streams on their platform, seven out of every ten streams of these tracks were fraudulent. That means bots or other AIs were “listening” to generate revenue artificially.
So we’re not just talking about genuine listener interest here. There’s likely a significant amount of gaming the system happening. When you combine that with how easy it is to generate this content at scale, the potential for flooding platforms with AI slop becomes terrifying.
So what comes next?
Platforms like Spotify are going to face increasing pressure to distinguish between human and AI content. But will they? The streams look the same in their revenue calculations.
I suspect we’re heading toward a labeling requirement – something that clearly identifies AI-generated content. But even that feels like putting a bandage on a bullet wound. The genie’s out of the bottle, and Breaking Rust’s Billboard success just proved there’s a market for AI music, whether we like it or not.
