AI Band Neon Oni Hires Live Musicians for Japan Tour

The AI-generated music group Neon Oni will perform live concerts in Japan. This was reported by NewsBytes.

The project went viral in 2025 after the release of its debut music video.

Now, it boasts over 79,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, with the song "Satori Sedai" accumulating over 1.2 million streams.

Initially, Neon Oni existed solely in the digital realm. Its creator, known as Kage, used Suno AI to generate music and invented seven fictional members from Tokyo. He posted content featuring them on social media and sold merchandise.

The creator did not explicitly market the group as virtual, but as its popularity grew, fans began to suspect the use of neural networks.

After the truth was revealed, Kage hired real musicians from Tokyo for live performances. The group will hold six concerts in the country in March and April 2026.

"We decided to make the band real mainly because of the excitement and immense love from fans," the creator explained.

Addressing concerns that AI could lead to high unemployment, the creator stated:

"In an era where artificial intelligence is taking jobs away from everyone, this project, on the contrary, creates jobs."

Apology from Suno CEO

Suno CEO Mikey Schulman apologized for concerns that most people "do not enjoy the process of making music."

This statement was made in January 2025 during the 20VC podcast. Schulman noted that the routine work involved in production is often seen as difficult and unpleasant. His comments drew criticism from producers who felt they showed a disregard for creativity.

In a recent interview with Billboard, the company leader acknowledged that he regretted his words and "wished he had chosen different ones." He clarified that he was referring only to technical barriers and the lengthy learning process. According to him, the main goal of the project is to lower the entry threshold and make track creation more accessible.

Recall that in September 2025, Suno launched the "world's first" generative DAW—Suno Studio, which "radically rethinks the music creation process."