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Pink Floyd’s AI-Assisted “Any Colour You Like” Video Sparks Debate

Pink Floyd’s selection of an AI-assisted “Any Colour You Like” video as a song-specific contest winner prompted questions about animation, creative labor and AI training data.
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In April 2024, Pink Floyd selected an AI-assisted video for “Any Colour You Like” as one of the winners of its The Dark Side of the Moon 50th-anniversary animation competition. The choice drew criticism from artists and fans who questioned whether generative-AI work should compete alongside traditionally animated entries. The video was not the competition’s overall first-prize winner: that award went to “Brain Damage.”

What Pink Floyd’s competition asked artists to make

The competition invited professionals and students to create animated videos for tracks from The Dark Side of the Moon. Entrants could submit up to 10 videos, one for each song, and the contest received more than 900 submissions. Pink Floyd selected multiple song-specific winners rather than a single video to represent the album. VentureBeat reported that each song-specific winner received a £10,000 prize; coverage also mentioned a possible larger bonus, but the available reporting does not establish whether it was awarded.

The project landed in a particularly visual corner of Pink Floyd’s history. The band’s imagery is associated with the work of Hipgnosis, animator Ian Emes, and Gerald Scarfe, whose animation helped shape Pink Floyd—The Wall. That legacy helps explain why some entrants and fans saw the competition as a test of visual craft, not simply a contest for striking results. Pink Floyd’s official site provides the band’s own context.

Which video prompted the backlash?

The disputed entry accompanies “Any Colour You Like,” from The Dark Side of the Moon, and was made by Argentine-born, Australia-based 3D artist Damian Gaume, who works as Marble Mannequin. Its visuals move through psychedelic space imagery, spacecraft and surreal scenes, with close-ups or representations of instruments. The look draws on the song’s psychedelic mood and the visual associations of the album, including its prism imagery. The controversy was about the video’s visuals—not an AI-made Pink Floyd recording or synthetic performance.

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The distinction between category winner and overall winner matters. Le Parisien identified “Brain Damage” as the first-prize video; Gaume’s entry was one of the winners for an individual track.

How Gaume said he made it

Gaume described a mixed workflow, not a one-prompt shortcut. According to VentureBeat’s account of his behind-the-scenes explanation, he used Stable Diffusion installed locally and created 3D assets in Blender, then used those assets in training or adapting model variants for the project. He directed the visual concept and assembled the work as part of a broader 3D and animation process. Guitar.com also reported on his use of AI in the video.

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“AI-assisted” is therefore more precise than saying the video was entirely generated by AI. At the same time, a human-directed workflow does not by itself settle whether the base model’s training material was licensed or whether the resulting imagery should count as original. Those are separate questions.

Why artists and fans objected

Fairness to human entrants

Some commenters said they had invested months or years, as well as substantial personal money, in their entries. They felt it was unfair for an AI-assisted video to receive recognition in the same competition. Those accounts are participants’ claims reported in coverage, not independently verified measurements of time or expense. The underlying concern was that a contest might reward a finished image sequence without recognizing differences in labor or process.

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What counts as animation?

Critics questioned whether sequences made with generative imagery belong in the same category as hand-drawn, stop-motion, or conventional 2D and 3D animation. The strongest version of this argument is about expectations: entrants may have understood the contest as a showcase for animation craft, while the rules apparently did not prevent a generative-AI workflow from winning. The available coverage does not establish exactly how the original terms addressed AI or what disclosure, if any, they required.

Training data, consent and originality

Some critics argued that AI systems can draw on images made by artists without their permission, and that this complicates claims of originality. Gaume’s reported use of his own Blender assets in a local workflow offers information about how he worked; it does not establish the provenance of the base model’s training data. Nor does installing a model locally, on its own, resolve concerns about how that model was trained.

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A mismatch with Pink Floyd’s visual legacy

For some viewers, the decision felt especially jarring because Pink Floyd has a history of ambitious visual collaborations. That reaction was about more than whether the clip suited one song: it raised expectations that a band-backed anniversary project would recognize distinctive human visual authorship.

Aesthetic criticism is not the same as labor criticism

Some people simply disliked the video’s look or regarded it as generic. Others objected to generative AI in the competition regardless of whether the finished visuals worked for them. These are different criticisms, and social-media reactions do not establish that all Pink Floyd fans shared either view.

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Why some viewers defended the choice

Supporters argued that AI can be a tool in a human-directed, mixed-media process and that Gaume’s Blender assets and technical preparation matter to an honest account of the work. Some considered the result a fitting match for the song’s psychedelic character. Others argued that judging should focus on the finished video rather than the number of hours spent making it. Coverage also noted that some online comparisons blurred the distinction between entries for different songs.

These points do not answer questions about model training data or whether competition rules should separate AI-assisted work. They do show why the debate was not simply a matter of everyone rejecting the video.

What the episode leaves unresolved

  • The rules: The available reporting does not establish whether the competition terms explicitly permitted or prohibited generative AI, or whether entrants had to disclose its use.
  • The model’s training data: Gaume’s reported workflow does not establish the provenance or licensing of the base model’s training material.
  • The judging rationale: The reviewed coverage does not provide a detailed explanation from the judges of how they weighed process, originality or technical execution.
  • Pink Floyd’s response: The sources reviewed do not show a substantive public statement from the band addressing the backlash. The band did promote behind-the-scenes material about Gaume’s process; its lack of a detailed response does not establish a position on the broader debate.
  • The potential bonus: Reports mentioned a possible bonus prize, but do not establish whether it was awarded.

What the controversy says about creative competitions

The dispute exposed a design problem that extends beyond one music video: a competition can judge AI-assisted and traditionally made work together, but entrants need to know what that means before they submit. Clear terms can state whether generative tools are allowed, what must be disclosed, whether different workflows are judged in the same category, and whether evaluation rewards the finished result, the process, or both.

There is no single answer to whether human direction makes generated imagery original or whether AI-assisted work belongs in an animation category. But those questions are easier to debate honestly when a contest names its standards. The Pink Floyd episode became contentious because the technology, entrants’ expectations and the meaning of “animation” were not clearly aligned in public discussion.

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