Show me the (Xania) Monet: AI’s $3M record deal

Xania Monet, an AI-driven artist, secures a multimillion record deal. A triumph for tech, or a tipping point for human musicians?

A few weeks ago I wrote about the ‘band’ Velvet Sundown LINK who after amassing 1 million spotify followers and a degree of heat, were exposed as being entirely AI.

Well as I said at the time, it was the tip of the artificial iceberg.

Now an AI / human collab has made history, inking a massive deal.

Unsurprisingly, many 100% human musicians aren’t singing along.

Meet Xania Monet

Telisha “Nikki” Jones, a poet and designer, created Xania Monet using generative AI tools like Suno to transform her words into songs.

Within months, tracks like ‘How Was I Supposed to Know’ were streaming in the millions, topping R&B digital charts and even landing in the gospel top tens.

What began as a personal experiment has turned into a cultural and controversial phenomenon.

For what my opinion is worth, this sounds much less 'artificial' than Velvet Sundown's digital dross. Judge for yourself here

Hits get real

The bomb dropped in September when Hallwood Media signed Monet to a deal reportedly worth around $3 million.

The scale of the contract shocked many in the industry.

This wasn’t a novelty TikTok act; it was a full-blown artist agreement, complete with streaming projections, touring discussions, and publishing rights.

Monet may be the first ‘act’ to cross from AI experiment into the mainstream music industry.

Xania mania

Monet’s numbers are hard to ignore. Nearly 10 million U.S. streams, 465,000 monthly Spotify listeners, and growing social media fandom.But not everyone is cheering.

Someone not on board is R&B artist Kehlani, singer of the hit song ‘Gangsta’ on the Suicide Squad soundtrack (don’t worry I had to look her up too).

She notes:“There is an AI R&B artist who just signed a multi-million-dollar deal … and the person is doing none of the work. This is so beyond out of our control.”

“Nothing and no one on Earth will ever be able to justify AI to me.” Kehlani

At the same time, Timbaland—the influential rapper and superproducer, not the hard wearing work boot (I know, it’s confusing)—gushed online:

“You better check out Xania Monet who’s killing it; good music.”

Pop meets principles

Behind the buzz lies a complicated question: when it comes to partially or entirely AI music, who owns what?

Is Monet’s work just human creativity refracted through AI, or is it a threat to those who play, sing, and tour the old-fashioned way?

Does it make a difference that Jones wrote the lyrics herself?

Tools like Suno are under fire from record labels for using copyrighted work without permission, while academics are pitching new royalty models and major labels are negotiating deals that could shape who gets paid and how much.

Monet’s ground-breaking contract is worth millions, but could it become commonplace?

The hits keep coming?

Xania could signal a new era where AI-assisted artistry becomes normalised.

At the same time, it could collapse under a legal, ethical and cultural backlash.

But we do seem to have entered an era where, at least for the moment, AI can 'co-write' songs, sign deals, top the charts, and make bank.

“The future of music just became the present.”

Hit me up with your thoughts.

Yours in (???) music,

Adam S