Xania Monet, an artificial intelligence (AI) music artist, has reportedly landed a recording contract worth millions. Competition for the AI performer is said to have reached as high as $3 million (£2.4 million), with Hallwood Media, run by former Interscope executive Neil Jacobson, ultimately securing the deal. According to reports, the agreement is valued in the multimillion-dollar range.

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Monet was developed by Mississippi-based poet and designer Talisha Jones, who used the generative platform Suno to turn her own poetry into music. She also created Monet’s persona, which quickly sparked attention from record companies. The project has already seen strong results, with signs of commercial potential. Monet’s songs have charted on Billboard, and she has grown an online fan base of around 465,000 monthly Spotify listeners. Just last week, her track “How Was I Supposed to Know” hit number one on the R&B Digital Song Sales chart.

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Romel Murphy, who manages both Jones and her AI creation, stressed the authenticity of the music. He said about 90% of the lyrics stem directly from Jones’s personal experiences, with the rest influenced by friends and her wider circle. He explained, “It’s just the lyrics, and they are pure. That’s what’s catching.” Murphy also stood by the AI-driven project. “This is real music, it’s real R&B. There’s an artist behind it,” he told Billboard. He added that preparations are underway for Monet’s first live performance, alongside conversations about publishing deals for her catalog.

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However, several established R&B stars, including SZA and Kehlani, have voiced opposition to the use of AI in music-making. SZA hit back in a post to her Instagram story, asking “why devalue our music?”. In a separate story, she added: “Hey I hate Ai. If you f*ck w me PLEASE don't make any Ai images of me or songs. Ppl and children are dying from the harm n pollution Ai energy centers are creating. A stupid photo is not worth polluting and harming under served communities. Thank you”.

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Kehlani also had some words to say in a TikTok video, saying: “I don’t respect it. There is an AI R&B artist who just signed a multimillion-dollar deal and the person is doing none of the work. This is so beyond out of our control.” She added: “Nothing and no one on Earth will ever be able to justify AI to me,”.

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In a separate post, she also wrote: “1. I'm genuinely sad for people who are trying to come up and their space is being taken up by a computer program.

“2. people saying "damn i don't care she's so relatable." IT, not she, is taking all of the data it's collected on us and what we want, and is tailoring to us. even down to the voice.

“3. "well the creator is a poet who can't sing but wanted to make her ideas come to life" maybe she should write a poetry book. i love to support a good poet, i cannot paint. so im not going to create Al paintings and sell them, taking up space from up and coming painters. this is the antithesis of art. just because you can don't mean you should. art is not a money grab. music means something significant to culture, to humanity, to people. me personally i'm going to value it that way for the rest of my life.”

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