Alan Parsons — known for his work with The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and later as the creative force behind the Alan Parsons Project — is speaking out after discovering that scammers have been releasing fake music under his name.
Parsons shared the issue publicly, writing that “they’ve been gathering up streams, attention, and possibly even invitations to tea under my name.” He stressed that “these blatant infringements have nothing whatsoever to do with me.”
He went on to emphasize the extent of the impersonation, saying: “I have not released these songs, authorized these songs, hummed these songs, or even accidentally sat on a keyboard and come up with anything resembling these songs.”
The Alan Parsons Project, built around Parsons and Eric Woolfson along with a changing lineup of collaborators, produced seven straight U.S. Top 40 albums starting with the 1976 release Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Four of their records also reached the U.K. Top 40. Their biggest commercial success came in 1982 with the platinum-certified “Eye in the Sky”, which included a title track that climbed into the Billboard Top 5.
Before forming the group, Parsons worked as an engineer or producer on landmark projects including The Beatles’ Abbey Road, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, Paul McCartney’s Red Rose Speedway, the debut album from Ambrosia, and Al Stewart’s Year of the Cat, among many others.
Reflecting on his lifelong career, Parsons wrote (as transcribed by Classic Rock and Culture): “I spent most of my life finding my voice in the music industry – and I’d like to keep it human, thank you very much.” He encouraged listeners to “double-check the source of the music they’re listening to and support real, walking, talking, crumpet-eating artists. We are still here – slightly wrinkled, perhaps, but gloriously human.”
He isn’t the only one dealing with this issue. Other rock artists have discovered songs falsely attributed to them, including Toto, whose guitarist Steve Lukather had to reach out to streaming platforms to have an instrumental titled “Name This Night” removed.
Parsons summed up the situation with frustration and humor: “What a strange time we live in, when an imposter can write a tune, or have a toaster write it for him, slap my name on it as the artist, and then have a faceless algorithm give it life.” While he complimented the efficiency involved, he noted that it is “rather disappointing that scammers are now turning their robotic identities against musicians everywhere.”
Though Spotify has begun removing what it calls “spammy” tracks in a cleanup effort involving as many as 75 million songs, the fake Parsons tracks still slipped through.
Parsons addressed the broader issue, stating: “This sort of thing is happening to a great many artists these days, and the corporate entities that run these online streaming and digital distribution services seem to just be turning a blind eye.” He added that “this tomfoolery doesn’t just confuse listeners, it dilutes the talent of those artists, muddles their identity, and chips away at the integrity that takes years, or in my case, decades, to build.”
He ended his message with a wry note, saying: “I’m not angry; I save that for people who microwave fish at work. I’m just … spectacularly unimpressed.” To the scammers themselves, he offered a pointed sign-off: “I do hope your next software update installs a conscience.”
