Hold up… wait a minute… something ain’t right…
As fans of certain artists, there are always a few songs that we hope will one day escape the vault. Tyler Childers, in particular, has so many unreleased gems that fans are itching to get their hands on. Of course, you can find old clips on YouTube, but it’s not quite the same as having it readily available on a streaming platform.
While we’ve pleaded for Childers to release tracks like “Her And The Banks,” “Jersey Giant,” and “Redneck Romeo,” he has yet to cave to these cries. Given that Childers performs a few of these unreleased gems during his shows, I still have faith that one of these days, we will be lucky enough to have these songs gifted to us.
However, just because we love these songs and wish they would be on streaming platforms does not mean pirating music is allowed. In the world of AI, deepfakes, streaming platform fraud, every artist’s concern is that someone will profit off their voice in a way that is A) not legal and B) without their creative input.
Of course, there are some exceptions to making music with AI, most notably Randy Travis, who is currently utilizing the technology to bring back his legendary voice after a 2013 stroke left him with aphasia… a cognitive inability to speak.
While this does not fall into the AI or deepfake category, someone has stumbled upon a Spotify-verified artist, Alexia Rigmund, who has uploaded a number of Tyler Childers’ unreleased songs. Shout out to Jim J for tipping us off:
Hot tip – somebody put out Tyler’s demo of this and jersey giant as well as others on Spotify under the name Alexia Rigmund. At least it sounds just like Tyler…
— Jim J (@jimmyjlaw) January 26, 2025
Posting their “first single” in November 2024, they posted Childers’ version of “Jersey Giant,” followed by “Her And The Banks” and “Harlan Road, ” which all sound like live takes or demos of the songs… some from his classic Red Barn Radio performances.
This year, “Alexia” released an EP titled I Wanna Know Your Name, which features beloved tracks like “22nd Winter,” “Redneck Romeo” and “Losing You.” The profile has now gained over 18k monthly listeners as Childers fans discover their favorite unreleased tracks are on a streaming platform.
Given that Childers has never released these songs and that these singles and tracks are released under “Alexia Records,” it appears this “verified” artist is making money off sharing Childers’ songs. However, it does not stop there. Alexia Rigmond also has a YouTube channel and posts all of these songs there, similar to how a legitimate musician shares their new releases on many platforms.
I know it’s great for fans to see that these songs are readily available now, but it’s not ethical or legal, and it’s just another example of the streaming fraud that is running rampant on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. A North Carolina man was recently charged with numerous crimes for generating songs with AI, and then creating thousands of fake streaming bot accounts to rack up fraudulent listens. He earned over $10 million dollars in royalties over the past handful of years, and is now looking at a maximum of 20 years in prison. It’s the first real case of AI fraud being prosecuted in the United States, but I imagine it certainly won’t be the last.
Hopefully someone on Tyler Childers’ team can look into this and get it remedied.
In the meantime, check out my favorite live performance of “Her And The Banks.”
