The announcement that AI creator Telisha Jones signed a record deal as AI artist Xania Monet sparked controversy among artists.
Announced by Billboard, the $3 million record deal was secured with Hallwood Media, a label led by former Interscope executive Neil Jacobson. Supported by artists such as Timbaland, a bidding war reportedly ensued for the artist. Xania Monet’s first live performance is currently in the planning stages.
As Xania Jones, who is a Mississippi-based poet and design studio owner, has already had a hit with her recording, “Let Go, Let God.” The track reached No. 25 on the Billboard Emerging Talents list and No. 21 on the Billboard Hot Gospel Songs. Her single, “How Was I Supposed to Know,” also hit No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B Digital Song Sales, No. 3 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales and No. 22 on the Digital Song Sales chart.
“She’s been writing poetry for a long time,” said Romel Murphy, Jones’ manager, per Billboard. “90 percent of her lyrics are her own true stories, and the other 10 percent are inspired by the stories of her friends and community. What’s making the songs catch is not a hook and a bridge and a catchy chant, it’s just the lyrics, and they are pure.”
With the announcement of the recording contract, artists, however, have expressed concerns with the state of the music industry, voicing worry about creativity in music in the modern age and the replacement of human artistry with AI-generated music.
In a TikTok, R&B artist Kehlani denounced the use of A.I. in music, arguing that Jones could have published her poetry in a book without hindering rising musicians.
“This is the antithesis of art. Just because you can don’t mean you should,” said Kehlani. “I’m genuinely sad for people who are trying to come up and their space is being taken up by a computer program. I.T., 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.”
SZA also doubled down on the usage of A.I., particularly when it comes to AI images and songs, drawing attention to its environmental impact on Instagram.
“If you f-ck with me, please don’t make any AI images of me or songs. People and children are dying from the harm and pollution AI energy centers are creating,” said SZA in an Instagram story. “A stupid photo is not worth polluting and harming underserved communities.”
AI music tool Suno, which Jones used to create Xania, has also received backlash. In a new AI copyright lawsuit, major record labels are alleging that the platform has pirated music from YouTube to train its models through a process called “stream ripping.”
The claim comes days after AI company Anthropic agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit. The lawsuit was brought against them by authors who similarly accused the company of using their books to train their chatbot Claude without permission.
