Is Benny Rivers AI?

Spotify shows a “Likely AI Persona” badge on the artist profile. The badge text reads: “Spotify has applied this label because this artist reached the minimum audience for review and signals suggest their public identity may be AI-generated.” Spotify says the badge concerns the artist’s public identity, not how the music was made.

Deezer’s album page for “This Old Soul” (album, Jul 31, 2026) shows the “AI-generated content” notice: “This album includes tracks detected as generated with the use of AI.” A Jun 19, 2026 release of “Step by Step in Time” and the single “I Won’t Let You Fall” carry the same notice; the debut album “Where the Hurt Lives” and the Apr 12, 2026 “Step by Step in Time” release showed no notice. A control album by a human act (Daft Punk, Discovery) showed no notice in the same check.

Showbiz411’s Roger Friedman reported that “Step by Step in Time”, credited to Benny Rivers, was in the iTunes top 10 and wrote: “Benny does not exist. He’s an AI creation, so is the song, the music, the photo.” He said the act had almost 3 million Spotify streams. The column does not name the creator.

Apple Music’s biography says: “Benny Rivers is an AI-generated artist created with the music of mid-20th century blues and Southern soul in mind.” It says “Step by Step in Time” topped Billboard’s Hot Digital Songs chart in 2026.