Stick Figure fights unauthorized AI-made remixes of its hit song

In short: A reggae band’s older song went viral, but much of the attention came from unauthorized remixes that appear to have been made with AI.

What's going on

Stick Figure, a California reggae band, saw its six-year-old song “Angels Above Me” suddenly jump to number one on iTunes in six countries, including the UK, Austria, and Canada. Fans were posting excited videos about it on TikTok.

The band’s lead singer and guitarist, Scott Woodruff, says the spike was linked to multiple viral remixes that the band did not approve. The band and its label suspect the remixes were created with AI tools, meaning software that can generate or edit audio quickly (like using an automatic filter instead of a human producer). One remix reportedly reached more than 1.8 million plays on YouTube in five days. Woodruff says the band is not getting royalties from these versions.

The band’s label, Ineffable Records, has been sending copyright takedown notices and contacting major streaming services. Some tracks have been removed, including the viral YouTube upload, and Spotify reportedly took down the versions the label flagged. Others are still online, and the label describes the situation as “whack-a-mole,” meaning each time one copy is removed, more pop up.

This fits a wider pattern in music streaming. Deezer says the share of AI-made tracks it detects daily rose from 18% in 2025 to 44% in 2026, about 2 million tracks per month. Deezer estimates 85% of those are fraudulent, uploaded to collect money from streams.

What to watch

Streaming services and music distributors are testing new safeguards, but they also say it is hard to confirm what is truly official. Watch for stronger “artist protection” checks and for more artists pushing platforms to scan uploads for copyrighted audio before they spread.

Source: Wired