Artificial intelligence is making its way into country music, and some AI-generated artists are already making a surprising amount of money.
A new study from Kapwing, using data from Songstats, analyzed the most-streamed and top-earning AI music artists across Spotify, YouTube and the charts. Three country acts — Owen James, Breaking Rust and Cain Walker — stood out among the most successful.
And two of them have already generated an estimated $731,851 combined.
AI Country Artists Are Already Making Big Money
According to Kapwing’s analysis, Breaking Rust has generated 79.4 million Spotify streams and 71.7 million YouTube views.
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Kapwing estimates those numbers have translated to $469,963 in earnings across the two platforms.
Cain Walker has also built an impressive audience, with 41.3 million Spotify streams and 45.5 million YouTube views. Those numbers are estimated to be worth another $261,888.
Combined, Breaking Rust and Cain Walker have generated more than 166 million streams and views, worth an estimated $731,851.
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The three country acts are also showing up in the charts. Kapwing found 494 chart entries for Owen James, 407 for Breaking Rust and 399 for Cain Walker.
That’s a remarkable amount of traction for artists created with artificial intelligence.
Country Music Is Already Dealing With AI
AI-generated music has become increasingly easy to create, thanks in part to platforms such as Suno, which allow users to generate original songs with a computer.
That’s a different challenge from AI “deepfakes,” where technology is used to imitate the voice or likeness of an established artist.
Tennessee has already taken steps to protect artists from unauthorized AI replicas. The state passed the ELVIS Act, which expanded protections for performers against unauthorized uses of their voice and likeness.
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But entirely AI-generated artists present a different challenge.
There’s no established artist whose voice is being copied and no traditional performer behind the recording. The music can be created from scratch and released under an entirely new artist name.
AI-generated country music may still be in its early stages, but Breaking Rust and Cain Walker are already proving that artificial artists can find an audience — and make serious money in the process.
10 Country Stars Share Their Biggest Splurge Purchases
There’s nothing quite like taking the plunge and finally buying the something you really want. For many country artists that comes after releasing a debut album or having a song hit No. 1 on the charts. For others, it’s about fulfilling a childhood dream.
Either way, the splurge purchase is incredibly satisfying.
Keep scrolling to see what your favorite country artists have dropped big money on, be it cars, boats, property, or even a John Deere lawn mower.
