Warner Music makes history by signing the first AI pop star

Warner Music, one of the world's leading music companies, has announced a groundbreaking deal with Noonoouri, the first artificial intelligence-generated pop star. Noonoouri, who has already made a name for herself as a virtual influencer and fashion model, released her debut single "Dominoes" on September 1, 2023, after signing with Warner Music.

Noonoouri is a digital character created in 2018 by German graphic designer Joerg Zuber, who conceived her as a 19-year-old metaverse avatar. She has starred in campaigns for fashion houses like Dior, Balenciaga, and Valentino, and appeared in the pages of Elle, Vogue, and Harper's Bazaar after signing with top modeling agency IMG Models Worldwide.

Noonoouri's song, which is about "the interconnectedness of the world and the impact of our actions", features an entirely AI-generated voice from two male music veterans, Leonardo Martinelli and Rafa Caivano, according to the song's credits on YouTube. The artists will get royalties from the song, but social media users were outraged by the video, which has nearly 75,000 views since its release.

The video shows Noonoouri prancing in a bikini from Kim Kardashian's Skims collection, which some critics have accused of sexualizing a child-like body. One commenter wrote: "If they were going for 'petite adult female' for the design they failed miserably. If they were going for 'I want to make a 12 year old look sexy,' I want the police to inspect their hard drives."

Zuber has defended his creation, saying that Noonoouri is a combination of fashion model Naomi Campbell and Kardashian, the "face of social media". He also said that he was honored to work with Warner Music and that he looked forward to releasing more music in the future.

Warner Music is not the only studio to embrace artificial intelligence. In 2020, Warner Bros. signed a deal with Cinelytic to use its AI-driven project management system that was launched in 2019. The system uses data and algorithms to help executives make decisions about greenlighting, development, casting, marketing, and distribution of films.

Artificial intelligence offers some opportunities and assistance to musicians and the music industry, but also poses significant threats, according to Naomi Pohl, general secretary of the Musician's Union in the UK. She told The Telegraph: "Until we have a considerably stronger framework in place AI will remain a threat to the whole music industry ecosystem."