Blaze Foley, a long-dead Texas singer-songwriter, made headlines this week when a new song appeared on Spotify. But “Together” wasn’t an unearthed gem from the past. Instead, the track appeared to be AI-generated.
The same thing has happened to Toto, a band that is on tour again but no longer produces new music. A previously unheard fake instrumental called “Name This Night” was added to Toto’s official Spotify profile, though it’s since been removed. The accompanying image of a twilight sunset is noticeably generic and doesn’t feature Toto’s familiar logo.
“I am surprised Spotify let this on,” Steve Lukather, the band’s only remaining original member, tells UCR. He confirmed that he filed a formal complaint. “There is not much we can do but catch them and have it taken down. It is shameless now.”
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“Name This Night” can still be found on YouTube, however, as well as Apple Music and Tidal. Listen to the fake song below.
Lukather, an early critic of streamers before he negotiated a new deal, said he has larger worries now: “It will be worse if, say, they take our entire catalog and then AI makes a new Toto record that sounds really close to us but is not.”
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He and long-time bandmates David Paich and Joseph Williams have all appeared on one another’s most recent solo projects. Steve Porcaro also also produced new music. But none of it has appeared under the Toto banner, following a legal settlement with the estate of Jeff Porcaro. Toto’s last official release remains 2018’s Old Is New.
Craig McDonald, the country artist Foley’s label owner, says fake releases like these should have never happened in the first place.
“It’s kind of surprising that Spotify doesn’t have a security fix for this type of action, and I think the responsibility is all on Spotify,” McDonald told 404 Media, who originally broke the AI story. “They could fix this problem. One of their talented software engineers could stop this fraudulent practice in its tracks, if they had the will to do so. And I think they should take that responsibility and do something quickly.”
Toto is currently on tour with Christopher Cross and Men at Work, with dates continuing through Aug. 30 in Ridgefield, Washington.
Listen to the Fake Toto Song ‘Name This Night’
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Gallery Credit: Jeff Giles
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