Xania Monet, an artificial intelligence (AI)-crafted musician, has reportedly signed a multimillion-dollar recording deal after making waves in the music industry.
Billboard reports that a bidding war to sign Monet climbed as high as $3 million before Hallwood Media, led by former Interscope executive Neil Jacobson, closed a multimillion-dollar deal.
Monet was created by Mississippi poet and designer, Talisha Jones, who used the generative platform Suno to turn her own poetry into songs. She also developed the persona of Monet, which soon caught the attention of record labels.
Already, Monet is turning heads in the industry, as tracks have reached the Billboard charts. Last week, her song “How Was I Supposed to Know” rose to first position on R&B Digital Song Sales.
She also entered Billboard’s Emerging Artists list at No. 25 and climbed to No. 21 on Hot Gospel Songs. In all, her catalog has racked up 9.8 million U.S. streams, with more than half of that figure coming just in the last week, according to Luminate. Monet has also built a digital audience of about 465,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
Manager Romel Murphy, who represents Jones and her AI project Monet, stressed that her lyrics are “pure”, adding that 90% of the lyrics are written from Jones’s own life, with the remaining 10% being inspired by friends and community. “It’s just the lyrics, and they are pure. That’s what’s catching,” Murphy told Billboard.
“This is real music — it’s real R&B. There’s an artist behind it,” he added.
Currently, there are plans in place for Monet’s debut live performance as well as arrangements for publishing opportunities for her catalog.
AI-generated songs have been shaking the music industry in recent times. For years, the industry has flourished primarily by seeking talent, producing stars, and selling authenticity. However, labels are now exploring AI creators in a similar way to how they used to approach autotune, which was introduced to help correct minor pitch imperfections in vocal performances.
Jones’ AI project Monet is a reflection of how quickly AI is bringing change. However, Suno, the platform behind her sound, is facing lawsuits from major record labels over copyright infringement. The record labels have argued that online music AI generators like Suno replicate their artists’ music using AI technology.
