D’Addario is facing some pretty big backlash after recent accusations over a demo video possibly including AI-generated music.
It all started when D’Addario published a promotional clip on their Instagram about their new NYXL High-Density strings. The music was questionable at best, AI-generated at worst.
The clip drew comments like “Woah this sounds sick! What was the prompt?” and criticisms such as the track soundling “like Suno trained on a 64 kb/s mp3 file.” D’Addario was also accused of deleting comments an blocking users who accused them of AI use.
Four days later, D’Addario published a second video showing the project file of the alleged backing track, saying: “Setting the record straight, this string demo was certainly over-produced. However, it was not created by AI. All guitars were tracked in real-life, drums and synths were MIDI programmed, plus a whole lot of plug-ins and production.”
That explanation hasn’t quelled things. YouTubers Danny Sapko and KDH both released videos arguing D’Addario‘s “proof” clip doesn’t actually match the original demo.
Their analysis found several discrepancies: differing palm-muting patterns at the start, misaligned lead and rhythm parts, and audio that drifts out of sync when the two clips play together — a quirk Sapko links to AI music generators like Suno, which are known to wander off tempo.
Comments on the response video are also brutal. Drummer Mike Malyan (Disperse, Monuments) accused D’Addario of gaslighting, while bassist Adam Neely (Sungazer) wrote “A generally pathetic attempt at saving face, and insulting to the musical community you serve.” You get the idea – people are pissed and they’re not buying the explanation.
When Guitar World asked D’Addario about the renewed criticism, the company declined to address the new allegations, saying only that it stood by its earlier statement. It has not released raw project files, timestamps, or screen recordings that critics say could settle the dispute.
