An IFPI Sweden spokesperson was quoted<\/a> by The Guardian <\/i>as saying: \u201cJacub\u2019s track has been excluded from Sweden\u2019s official chart, Sverigetopplistan, which is compiled by IFPI Sweden. While the song appears on Spotify\u2019s own charts, it does not qualify for inclusion on the official chart under the current rules.\u201d<\/p>\n IFPI Sweden\u2019s Chief Executive Ludvig Werner<\/b><\/a> added: \u201cOur rule is that if it is a song that is mainly AI-generated, it does not have the right to be on the top list.\u201d<\/p>\n On Spotify, the artist listed as Jacub has already gained over 935,800<\/b> monthly listeners, mostly in Sweden. The folk-pop song in question has amassed over 6.3 million<\/b> plays<\/a> on the platform.<\/p>\n “While the song appears on Spotify\u2019s own charts, it does not qualify for inclusion on the official chart under the current rules.\u201d<\/p>\n IFPI Spokesperson (via the guardian)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The exclusion came after Swedish journalist Emanuel Karlsten<\/b> <\/a>traced the song’s origins through STIM <\/b>(Svenska Tons\u00e4ttares Internationella Musikbyr\u00e5), Sweden’s music rights organization, according to a blog post<\/a>. Registration records showed five people listed as authors, with four connected to Stellar<\/b>, a Danish music publisher.<\/p>\n Stellar’s co-founders Morten Winther <\/b>and Ryan<\/b> Peterson<\/b> appear as authors, alongside intern Malthe Carlsen<\/b>. All three are based in Copenhagen, according to Karlsten. Another listed author, Niklas Engvall<\/b>, is a Swedish graphic artist who creates AI-generated illustrations and publishes them on Instagram account @engvall.arts.<\/p>\n Karlsten wrote that Engvall and Carlsen are listed on Stellar’s website as responsible for an AI department\u00a0that handles visuals.<\/p>\n \u201cOur rule is that if it is a song that is mainly AI-generated, it does not have the right to be on the top list.\u201d<\/p>\n Ludvig Werber, IFPI Sweden<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The investigative journalist also identified a fifth author, Jacob<\/b> Berg<\/b>, whose name inspired the Jacub persona. Karlsten said Berg appears not to be connected to Stellar, but STIM records show he also created another song performed by Ingrid Eikeland<\/b>, another artist believed to be AI generated.<\/p>\n Eikeland\u2019s song S\u00f8sken<\/i>, released in October, has so far amassed more than 102,300<\/b> streams<\/a> on Spotify. Karlsten said S\u00f8sken<\/i>\u00a0is also registered at STIM by the same Stellar team, plus Lasse Fabricius<\/b>, another co-founder at Stellar.<\/p>\n \u201cS\u00f8sken thus seems to be a test of the Norwegian market, in the same way that Jag vet, du \u00e4r note min<\/em> seems to be a test of the Swedish market,\u201d according to a translated text of Karlsten\u2019s article last week (January 12).<\/p>\n In an email<\/a> to Karlsten, which the journalist published, Stellar defended its work, describing their team as \u201cexperienced music creators, songwriters and producers who have invested a lot of time, care, emotions and financial resources into this EP.\u201d<\/p>\n “it is important to clarify that we are not an anonymous tech company that has just \u2018pressed a button.\u2019 That could not be further from the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n Stellar<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n They wrote (in Swedish): \u201cFirst of all, it is important to clarify that we are not an anonymous tech company that has just \u2018pressed a button.\u2019 That could not be further from the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe process has involved many late nights and a great deal of personal commitment, which is also why we are genuinely grateful for how strongly listeners have emotionally connected to the music.\u201d<\/p>\n Stellar differentiated themselves against \u201cAI music slop,\u201d described as mass-uploaded tracks without artistic intent. The team claimed no paid advertising was used and that organic listener support drove the song’s success.<\/p>\n The music publisher also claimed to have identified nearly 100 songs that have attempted to replicate their approach.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don’t deny that it’s relatively easy to generate an AI song that almost no one listens to. However, we believe that it takes something completely different to repeatedly create songs that large numbers of people actively choose to return to,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n They also denied allegations that their prompts for the Jacub song referenced Swedish artist Albin Lee Meldau<\/b>, who currently has over 1 million<\/b> listeners<\/a> on Spotify.<\/p>\n They explained: \u201cThat claim is factually incorrect. The artist in question has not been referenced at any time in the prompts, reference materials, or in the creative process behind Jag vet, du \u00e4r note min <\/i>or any of our other releases. The songs have been created through a human-driven process with full creative control, where AI music tools have only been used as assisting instruments.<\/p>\n When asked whether Jacub exists, Stellar wrote: \u201cJacub is an artistic project developed and carried by a team of human songwriters, producers, and creators. The feelings, stories, and experiences in the music are real, because they come from real people.\u201d<\/p>\n “Jacub is an artistic project developed and carried by a team of human songwriters, producers, and creators. The feelings, stories, and experiences in the music are real, because they come from real people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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