A chart-topping blues track that captivated listeners across the UK has been exposed as entirely artificial, raising fresh concerns about the growing influence of AI in the music industry.
“Another Day Old”, credited to the mysterious Eddie Dalton, surged up the Official UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 2 and No. 3, while racking up more than 500,000 streams on Spotify.
The track, a slow, soulful reflection on ageing, was widely praised for its authenticity — with many listeners comparing its sound to legends like Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye.
However, it has now emerged that Dalton is not a real person. The gravelly, emotive vocals that drew in hundreds of thousands of fans were in fact generated by artificial intelligence.
The artist had been carefully marketed as a Black American blues musician, complete with imagery depicting a weathered performer singing in dimly lit, smoky venues.
The illusion proved convincing, helping the track gain traction across streaming platforms and social media.
Eddie Dalton appears to be the latest AI creation of Crusty Records, a company which has made several AI music personas and garnered the attention of millions.
Dalton is reportedly the most successful creation of Crusty Records, a company specialising in AI-generated music acts. The label claims it “builds distinctive artist brands” and that its catalogue “showcases the future of sound.” Across platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube, its artificial artists have collectively amassed millions of streams.
Among its roster are a range of fabricated personas spanning genres. Some are more obviously tongue-in-cheek, such as the country parody act Biscuit Beats, whose explicit, AI-generated tracks have attracted significant attention.
Others, like Cain Walker, present as more conventional artists, with multiple songs pulling in millions of streams, including one track surpassing 9 million plays.
The scale of the streaming success has raised eyebrows within the industry. Critics have questioned whether these figures are entirely organic, pointing to the possibility of bot-driven streaming farms inflating numbers artificially.
Spotify has previously acknowledged the issue, stating that as streaming payouts have grown into the billions annually, so too has the incentive for bad actors to manipulate play counts for financial gain.
This is not the first time an AI-generated act has broken into mainstream charts. In 2025, a supposed Christian artist named Solomon Ray topped the iTunes Christian and Gospel charts, before also being revealed as a digital creation.
Similarly, an indie-style AI band dubbed The Velvet Sundown drew millions of listeners with their track “Dust on the Wind,” further blurring the line between human and machine-made music.
The controversy comes as industry bodies ramp up efforts to protect artists. The Musicians’ Union has been vocal in its opposition to the unregulated use of copyrighted material in training AI systems, warning that creators risk losing both control and income.
“Tech firms should not be able to use your music to train their artificial intelligence (AI) models without your consent,” the organisation said.
“Big tech companies want to use songs, recordings and other creative works to train their AI models for commercial purposes without asking or paying the original creators or rights holders.”
“The MU is fighting for consent, credit and fair compensation for all creators for the use of their work to train AI models.”
While headline-grabbing cases like Eddie Dalton highlight the disruptive potential of AI, the technology is also quietly reshaping other areas of the music ecosystem.
Companies such as Mubert are producing algorithmically generated background music for commercial spaces, offering royalty-free alternatives to traditional licensed tracks.
The service is marketed as a cost-effective solution for businesses looking to avoid music licensing fees, with AI-generated “Muzak” designed to fill silence in shops, cafes and public venues.
