The rise of Xania Monet, a fully AI-generated artist, is highlighting both the potential and controversy of AI-powered music.

Meet Xania Monet

It looks like the future of music has arrived, and the artist doesn’t really even exist. Xania Monet is an AI-powered R&B artist created by poet and design studio owner Talisha Jones. Using the AI music generator Suno, Jones transforms her own lyrics into fully AI produced tracks. Jones doesn’t stop there though, completing the music with a carefully designed artist persona, which obviously looks like AI.

People are listening too. In just two months, Monet has pulled in more than 17 million streams. Her breakout track, ‘How Was I Supposed To Know’, has clocked 2.5 million streams on Spotify alone, cracked Billboard’s R&B Digital Song Sales Top 10, and even hit No. 22 on the overall Digital Song Sales chart. Pretty impressive numbers.

Now, Billboard is reporting that independent label Hallwood Media has signed Monet to a record deal reportedly worth up to $3 million.

So, how did we get here?

At this point, AI music isn’t an entirely new thing. AI music generators like Suno are making it possible for anyone with an idea to create realistic-sounding tracks. That means the barriers to entry are collapsing so that anyone can create ‘music’.

Monet is the latest in a string of AI artists to take the spotlight. Earlier this year, AI band The Velvet Sundown made headlines after racking up over a million monthly Spotify listeners. Forbes also notes that TikTok saw its first AI track to hit its Viral 50 with Vinih Pray’s ‘A Million Colors’. 

The legal grey area

Of course, AI music generators are already facing lawsuits from the music industry. Major labels recently amended their lawsuit against Suno, adding the accusation that the company ‘steam-ripped’ content from YouTube to train its model on copyrighted music without permission. But with lawmakers being slow to react, Suno continues to push forward. It just rolled out its new v5 model and even launched the world’s first generative DAW, blending AI generation with human production tools.

Monet’s deal also raises interesting questions around copyright protection. Earlier this year, a US court ruled that AI-generated works don’t qualify for copyright protection under US law without some human authorship. That makes purely machine-made music ineligible for copyright protection. However, Monet’s songs sit in a tricky middle ground. While her voice and production are AI, her lyrics are written by Jones.

AI-generated works cannot be copyrighted in the US, but there’s a catch

All of this leaves Monet’s $3 million record deal on uncertain legal flooding. If her work can’t be protected under copyright, how will labels ensure their investment is secure?

What does this mean?

Love it or hate it, Monet’s success could represent a broader industry shift. So far, people have been reluctant to embrace and listen to AI artists. But, as long as the songs slap, millions are willing to click play- especially when they’re unaware of the fact they’re listening to AI.

For artists, labels, and industry professionals, this trend is worth paying attention to. AI is no longer sitting on the sidelines, and is increasingly stepping onto the main stage. This time, millions of dollars are flowing in its direction too.

Will Xania Monet pave the way for a wave of AI superstars, or will legal and ethical pressure cut AI’s rise short? Either way, the experiment is happening in real time, and the industry is watching.

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