Capitol Records Sign AI Powered Virtual Rapper FN Meka
"Most hits are written by teams of people who get paid to make music that will “sell”. We think machines can eventually run this process more efficiently than humans. How many fans ever actually meet the stars they idolize anyway? People’s fandom develops from digital images on screens projecting expertly designed content – who actually knows with certainty what's real and what's not? If the content is good enough, do people even care how it’s made?"
In a move that is dividing the music industry, Capitol Records have announced the signing of the virtual artist, FN Meka. An artificial-intelligence-powered 'virtual hip-hop artist' FN Meka has amassed over 10 million followers and one billion views on TikTok, creating enough buzz to inspire Capitol Music Group to make a signing that they are touting as a "world first".
FN Meka's first release for the label, Florida Water, which you can stream below, features rapper Gunna and streamer Clix, with production handled by Turbo (Young Thug, Travis Scott). The song also features executive production by DJ Holiday (Gucci Mane, Nicki Minaj).
The vocals on the track are reportedly performed by an actual rapper, however, the lyrics were written using artificial intelligence. Created by Factory New, who call themselves a 'virtual record label', FN Meka is very much a 'robot rapper', as Factory New co-founder Anthony Martini explained to MBW.
"We’ve developed a proprietary AI technology that analyzes certain popular songs of a specified genre and generates recommendations for the various elements of song construction: lyrical content, chords, melody, tempo, sounds, etc. We then combine these elements to create the song. As of now, a human voice performs the vocals, but we are working towards the ability to have a computer come up with and perform its own words – and even collaborate with other computers as “co-writers”.
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News of the FN Meka's signing has drawn criticism from segments of the industry, with much of the criticism following the lines of this tweet from producer D.Shim who states " “He’s not even a human being and got 10 million followers on Tik Tok. What is the world coming to? Will AI robots replace human creation? I need answers. Like right now.”
So you’re telling me Captiol records just gave an AI robot named FN Meka a rap deal before any of my clients???? He’s not even a human being and got 10 million followers on tik tok. What is the world coming to? Will AI robots replace human creation? I need answers. Like right now
— D.Shim (@dshimbeatz) August 18, 2022
Martini is unmoved by such criticism though stating "Most hits are written by teams of people who get paid to make music that will “sell”. We think machines can eventually run this process more efficiently than humans. How many fans ever actually meet the stars they idolize anyway? People’s fandom develops from digital images on screens projecting expertly designed content – who actually knows with certainty what's real and what's not? If the content is good enough, do people even care how it’s made?"
Capital Music Group is seemingly on board with the potential for this approach with Executive Vice President of Experiential Marketing & Business Development, Ryan Ruden stating FN Meka “meets at the intersection of music, technology and gaming culture”.
The signing of FN Meka continues a recent trend in the major label space. Warner Records signed a global partnership with SM Entertainment and their K-Pop 'Metaverse Girl Group' aespa. aespa features four human and four virtual members. Warner Records also signed a 'virtual idol' in China called Ha Jiang to their pan-Asian dance label.
Other majors are making their own moves in the space, meaning FN Meka could be the sign of a new future for major label output.
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