Xania Monet’s Billboard Charting Is Seriously Worrying

Meet Xania Monet, the chart-topping R&B artist and vocalist who isn’t even real.

Following the uproar and backlash from the creation of AI actress Tilly Norwood, you’d think that the entertainment industry would have learned its lesson. Unfortunately, that’s not the case and it looks like we’ve got another AI generated ‘star’ on our hands.

R&B artist Xania Monet was created by Telisha Jones in June of this year and has since released 13 singles and 2 studio albums on all major streaming platforms. Xania currently has over 1.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify and has 120,000 followers on her profile – and she’s not even real.

The third track on her first album Unfolded, titled ‘How Was I Supposed to Know?’ is the very song that made Xania the first AI artist to reach the Billboard Charts, making it to the Top 30 on the Adult R&B Airplay Chart and topping the R&B Digital Song Sales Chart.

 

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Since its release this summer, ‘How Was I Supposed to Know?’ has racked up over 6 million streams and has appeared on official playlists such as Hot Gospel Songs, Hot R&B Songs and the Emerging Artists Chart.

The success of Xania’s ‘career’ in relation to the vast number of streams has equated to more than $52,000 for her creator Jones, which made the inevitable record label bidding war no surprise. Ultimately, the deal was closed this September by Hallwood Media, which is led by former Interscope executive Neil Jacobson. It’s been reported that this bidding war escalated to over $3 million dollars.

This story is giving us a glimpse of the future of the music industry and its reality is beyond terrifying. Of course, the creation of AI artists and AI music will only tarnish streaming platforms and impact real creative work. And it’s those real life artists who are speaking out.

In a since deleted TikTok, R&B singer Kehlani indirectly slammed both Xania and her creator saying “There is an AI R&B artist who just signed a multimillion-dollar deal … and the person is doing none of the work.”

 

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While Jones’ manager Romel Murphy has emphasised that most of Xania’s lyrics are generated from Jones’ own poetry, she hasn’t made a very strong case for the AI music industry.

Kehlani made a fair point in saying, “This is so beyond out of our control” – and it is. The capabilities and the accomplishments of AI are only getting more dynamic, it would be no surprise if the next few years saw the introduction of AI specific charts, and AI artists dominating online charts.

Do yourself and the entertainment industry a favour by avoiding this empty and lifeless form of music. There are so many artists out there making incredible music – and they’re actually real.

Words by Leah Foran