Hallwood Signs ‘AI Music Designer’ imoliver to Record Deal, a First for the Music Business

Hallwood Media has signed imoliver — dubbed in a press release as the top-streaming “AI music designer” on AI music platform Suno — to a record deal, marking the first time a traditional label has signed an AI music creator to such a deal, it was announced Thursday (July 24).

To kick off the deal, imoliver will be releasing “Stone,” a song originally released on Suno, to all streaming services on Aug. 8. To date, the song has more than 3 million streams on Suno, a powerful and controversial platform that can generate songs at the click of a button. Given that some streaming services, including Spotify, still do not have any AI music-specific policies in place, imoliver is expected to generate streams like any other artist, unless he breaks other rules like impersonation, spamming, or artificial streaming.

Through imoliver’s new deal with Hallwood, he will gain new marketing, promotion and artist services to further his AI music to greater success. On Oct. 24, imoliver is also slated to drop his debut album. As the press release states: “In the coming weeks, Hallwood will release a series of new singles from the creator, supported by visual storytelling and audio content that will introduce this exciting new talent as well as help music fans better understand this new medium and appreciate how the role of music designer fits into the tapestry of creative music making in the age of AI.”

Hallwood Media is a multi-faceted music company, servicing talent through its recording, management, publishing, distribution and merch divisions. It is helmed (and founded) by former Geffen Records president Neil Jacobson, who has been a longtime advocate for innovation in the music business. Through his investing arm, Hallwood Media Ventures, which was founded in 2021 with partner Todd Lowen, Jacobson has helped fund Disco, Splice, Soundful and other music tech firms.

News of imoliver’s label deal comes just one day after Billboard published a story detailing the rise of a new class of music makers who earn a living from generating AI music and distributing it to social media and streaming services. Though these creators largely exist as outsiders to the music business — without signing traditional label deals, going on tour or selling merch — their AI-generated or assisted work does compete for royalty dollars with entirely human-made songs on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. imoliver is the first of this class of AI music content creators to sign a record deal with an established music company like Hallwood.

Even though some AI music content creators make enough money to devote themselves to this full time, AI music still only accounts for a small sliver of the streaming pie. Deezer recently reported that AI songs only account for just 0.5% of streams on their platform, and “up to 70%” of plays of this type of material is artificial.

In a statement, Jacobson said of the deal: “imoliver represents the future of our medium. He’s a music designer who stands at the intersection of craftwork and taste. As we share his journey, the world will see the dexterity behind his work and what makes it so special. What he does is exactly why I love music and why we push boundaries at Hallwood.”

imoliver added that “signing with Hallwood is a huge moment, not just for me, but for the future of music. It’s a sign the industry is ready to embrace new ideas and new ways of creating. This isn’t about replacing artists, it’s about expanding what’s possible.”

Mikey Shulman, CEO of Suno, adds: “This is a milestone — not just for Oliver, Hallwood and Suno, but for the future of music. A new creator emerging from a new platform, making new kinds of content, shows that the future of music will be more vast and more inclusive than it is today. The boundaries of artistry are ever expanding.”

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