There’s a lot of buzz surrounding Xania Monet. She’s the AI-generated persona of human R&B artist and poet Telisha “Nikki” Jones. With Monet’s growing popularity, Jones scored a $3 million record deal with Hallwood Media.
Xania’s Record Deal Tests Music’s Relationship with AI
It’s fascinating how this deal happened at the same time that Suno, the platform used to create Monet, is being sued by major labels.
Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Warner Music and the RIAA have filed lawsuits against AI platforms for copyright infringement. They’re argument is that these platforms are using the music of artists signed to these labels to train their AI models. On the other hand, you have Hallwood Media betting big money on a new era of creativity .
Artists like Kehlani have criticized the very concept of AI-generated artists, but clearly some music executives don’t feel the same way. The music industry is a business. They’re going to follow where the money is no matter how unethical or disruptive it might be. Supporters feel that Hallwood is simply trying to make a name for themselves in a new market. Either way, Xania Monet’s success shows that the industry hasn’t figured out how to make space for AI.
Why Listeners Connect with Xania
The curious part is that most people know Xania Monet isn’t real. If you go to her Instagram or stream her songs on Spotify, there’s nothing to indicate that she’s not human. Only those who know how to spot the uncanny valley aesthetics of Xania’s model can tell she’s an AI. The ones who do know don’t seem to care. For them, it’s not about whether her voice came from a human or an AI model. It’s the lyrics, written by Telisha herself, that resonates with them. Some fans have even said Monet’s songs helped them through dark times. Sometimes, if the music is good you’re not going to care if it was made by a human or an AI.
Who Owns All of Xania’s Music?
It will be interesting to see how the legal/financial aspects of the deal will be worked out. As I mentioned in a previous article, owning the master recordings is where the money is. Masters determine how royalties are paid. They give the owner the power to determine how a song can be used for licensing, and blocks anyone from re-releasing, remixing or monetizing the music without permission.
Telisha claims she owns all the masters for Monet’s songs. If she used AI to create the music, that’s when things get very blurry. A 2025 court ruling stated that fully AI-generated works can’t be copyrighted. They’re considered to be part of the public domain. If Xania’s music was created entirely by Suno, anyone could legally copy, remix, or distribute Monet’s AI-made tracks without permission. The role AI plays in making Xania’s music will determine if Telisha is legally recognized as the owner, along with the terms of her contract with Hallwood Media.
The only way to protect those works is if there’s clear human authorship like lyrics, arrangements, or heavy editing of the AI’s output. In that case, those parts can be copyrighted. Otherwise, Hallwood Media may have paid $3 million for music they don’t exclusively own.
Who Actually Has a Record Deal? Telisha or Xania?
Another issue is who exactly is signed to Hallwood Media? Is it Telisha, the human songwriter? Or is it Xania, the AI persona?
You can’t sign a legally binding contract with something that doesn’t exist. It’s possible that the deal is legally with Telisha, with Monet treated as an alias. That detail matters, because the legal identity of the artist determines who gets royalties, who has contractual obligations, and who carries the liability.
Music is no longer just about sound. It’s a complicated jumble of ownership, identity. It’s pushing the definition of what an “artist” even is. Xania Monet’s record deal forces us to question if the law can catch up with technology as it evolves. For the fans who love Xania’s songs, her being an AI doesn’t make the music matter any less.
