Revealed Recordings, the dance label founded by Hardwell, has apologized for the artwork attached to Kevin D’Angello’s new single “Dirty Bitch,” calling the image “ai slop” in its own words. The Revealed Recordings AI artwork row began when a cover showing a neon colored dog wearing a chain and a pendant spelling “DIRTY” drew criticism online. The label has since replaced the image and promised a new process to stop it happening again, according to EDM.com.
Revealed Recordings AI artwork: what happened
“Dirty Bitch” is a new single from D’Angello on Revealed. EDM.com reports it was released on October 1, while the Spotify listing shows October 2, a small gap that likely reflects release timing across regions. Soon after it went live, the cover art began circulating with complaints that it looked machine made. EDM.com names no individual critics, only that the artwork “drew criticism online.”
The label did not argue the point. In a post on X quoted by EDM.com, Revealed wrote: “We sincerely apologize for the ai slop artwork that was used today.”
What Revealed said went wrong
According to EDM.com’s account of the statement, Revealed’s in house designers normally build custom 3D artwork for its releases, and this image was not produced by that team. The label said it passed “through the chain without proper approvals,” which points to a process failure rather than a creative choice. Revealed has not said which tool, if any, generated the image or who supplied it, and neither D’Angello nor Hardwell has been quoted on the matter in the coverage reviewed.
The artwork has been swapped out. The label also committed to developing a new process to prevent similar material from being published, and in a follow up response shared a behind the scenes video of another recent design, saying it plans to show more of its creative process going forward.
Why the reaction was so sharp
Revealed is one of the best known labels in big room and mainstage dance music, and an EDM.com interview with Hardwell in 2024 marked the imprint passing 1,000 releases. A label with that profile is expected to commission real artwork, and fans noticed when it did not. The episode also lands during a wider argument across electronic music about generative AI in creative work, which EDM.com links to a separate report on artists objecting to the scraping of music to train AI without consent.
The wording of the apology matters too. EDM.com describes it as unwaveringly direct, since Revealed adopted the same term critics use rather than softening it. That makes it harder for the label to be accused of dodging, and it echoes how other scene figures have answered credibility rows, as when Mau P answered ghost producer claims by showing his work in public.
What happens next
Revealed has promised a new approval process but has not published details. Watch for whether it names the process, states a policy on generative tools for artwork, or credits the designers behind its next covers. The label’s decision to show its design workflow suggests it wants to rebuild trust by making its human work visible.
One point remains unconfirmed: the main reporting comes from EDM.com, which embeds the label’s X post. Other outlets had not been found carrying the story at the time of writing, so the quotes here are as reported by EDM.com.
FAQ
What did Revealed Recordings apologize for?
The label apologized for the cover of Kevin D’Angello’s single “Dirty Bitch,” which it described as “ai slop” artwork.
Has the artwork been replaced?
Yes. EDM.com reports the original image has been replaced, and the current cover is the one shown on Spotify.
Who made the original artwork?
Revealed has not said. It stated only that the image was not made by its usual design team and reached release without proper approvals.
Has Hardwell commented?
No statement from Hardwell or Kevin D’Angello appeared in the coverage reviewed.
What will Revealed do next?
It plans to build a new process to prevent similar artwork from being published and to show more of its design process publicly.
