Recently, AI-generated artist Xania Monet received a $3 million dollar deal from Hallwood Media, a major music media company. The progression of artificial intelligence in the music industry is happening shockingly fast, as Monet isn’t the first AI model to be signed under a production company.
Music producer Timbaland decided to get ahead of the curve when he created the AI music company, Stage Zero. His first “artist” is the AI-generated singer, Tata. His announcement came with an Instagram post of him declaring that he is “thinking bigger, but still inclusive.”
He shared his support for Monet with another Instagram caption, encouraging users to check out her music.
“You better check out Xania Monet who’s killing it with good music,” his caption reads.
The lyricist behind the machine is Talisha Jones, a Mississippi-born poet. She debuted at number 25 on Billboard’s Emerging Artists List and has generated over 700 thousand listeners on Spotify.
R&B singer Kehlani brought the matter onto social media in a now-deleted TikTok video. She called out the usage of AI in the arts while expressing her disdain for the road the music industry is taking.
“Nothing and no one on Earth will ever be able to justify AI to me. In the creative arts in which people have worked hard for, trained for, slept on the floor for, got injuries for, worked for their entire lives, I’m sorry. I don’t respect it.”
AI usage isn’t just a matter of devaluing creativity, but it is an issue of economic and environmental harm. Grammy-winning artist, SZA, seems to agree, according to an Instagram story she uploaded.
“Hey, I hate Ai. If you f– with me PLEASE don’t make any Ai images of me or my songs. Ppl and children are dying from the harm n pollution Ai energy centers are creating,” the Ctrl artist wrote.
“Promise Ring” singer, Tiffany Evans, also joined the conversation, claiming the voice of her and other singers were ran through Suno Technology to create the sound of Monet. According to Music Business Worldwide, Suno is currently facing a lawsuit for allegedly pirating music to train their AI models.
@officialtiffanye This is really messed up and a slap in the face to REAL artists who eat, sleep and breathe this music thing. This is so dangerous on so many levels. 😡😡
♬ original sound – Tiffany Evans
After Kehlani’s post-and-delete, the conversation of AI being used in creative arts heightened, and the internet became divided. Some believe the use of AI as a voice is fine, so long as there is a real person writing the music, while others disagree. When the question arose on why these particular artists didn’t use a human artist, the rebuttal is that not many have access to a “rolodex of singers.”
“This literally takes art derived from organic sources (original artist) and gives access to people with no music talent of their own,” one user commented.
“I was just having this conversation with a client! I LOVE AI. It allows me to operate at maximum creativity,” says another user.
While nuance is required for this conversation, we mustn’t forget there is an objective standpoint on AI being utilized in creative spaces. Outside of environmental damages, over-usage of artificial intelligence in artistic spaces raises fear of job replacement and challenges artistic integrity. There are human beings who struggle with finding their footing in creative arts, and using artificial intelligence isn’t aid; it’s a cheat code.
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