Is 2026 the fakest year in music?

Shakira (left), the artist Mr.Fantasy (left), Gracie Abrams, AI artist Tata Taktumi and the boy band Boy Throb have also caused controversy this year over what's inauthentic and what's real in the musical trends of 2026.

Photos by Aurore Marechal / Kevin Kane / Ian Maule / Getty Images.Illustration by Jackie Lay.

hide caption From manufactured fans to AI artists and "industry plants," 2026 is one wild year for figuring out what's authentic and what's not in the music industry.For more, check out our historical survey of fakes, a podcast about why it feels harder than ever to know what's real and an essay by Ann Powers on where our desire for authenticity comes from.Earlier this summer, British producer and singer James Blake posted a series of complaints on his Instagram: He claimed that the music industry is essentially rigged, and that album reviews, comment sections and streaming numbers are all increasingly being manipulated for profit."If you're an artist, remember that in 2026 there's not a single part of the system that isn't faked," he wrote.In a year where an indie darling's success has been called a "psyop" and a pop star's debut album is dogged with plagiarism allegations, Blake raised an interesting point.

There's a growing tension between the rise of generative AI, social media algorithms' effect on creative forces and the hypercommercialization of the music industry.Dead internet theory, or the idea that everything online is fake, has taken hold in music; it claims that what was once a human-led space for communication and innovation has turned into a wasteland of bot-programmed activity.

At the same time, Gen Z continues to prioritize live music and communal experiences, spending more than ever on concert tickets to do so.Beloved indie stars who had taken a step back from the public eye returned with widely celebrated albums...