An AI musician just got a multi-million dollar record deal
SMRTR summary
A virtual R&B star with a very real record deal is causing ripples across the music industry. Xania Monet, an AI-generated artist persona created by human musician Telisha "Nikki" Jones, has secured a $3 million contract with Hallwood Media.
"How Was I Supposed to Know," Monet's breakthrough hit, recently topped Billboard's R&B Digital Song Sales chart and has inspired over 80,000 TikTok posts.
Jones writes all lyrics and claims production credits, though she uses the AI platform Suno to generate Monet's vocals and visuals. Scrolling through Monet's TikTok page with its 322,000 followers reveals AI-generated videos of singing performances with that distinctive uncanny valley quality.
The deal arrives amid intense legal battles. Suno itself faces a lawsuit from the Recording Industry Association of America for allegedly "stream-ripping" songs from artists like Mariah Carey to train its AI models.
The situation highlights a growing tension in creative industries. While established artist Kehlani has expressed disdain for AI-generated music taking opportunities from real musicians, others see technology democratizing access to the industry for those without traditional connections or advantages.
SMRTR provides this summary for quick context. The original article belongs to ZDNet.
Read the original article