Connect with us

Entertainment

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

Published

on

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.

Will the Rise of AI Music Content Creators Start Competing with Traditional Artists?

07/23/2025

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.”

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Entertainment

Dead & Company Celebrate 60 Years of the Grateful Dead at Golden Gate Park: Every Song From Night 1

Published

on

By

Tens of thousands of Deadheads descended on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on Friday night for the first of Dead & Company‘s three weekend shows celebrating 60 years of the Grateful Dead. The shows were consequential not just for the anniversary they commemorated, but for fans of the group, which had not performed anywhere other than Las Vegas’ Sphere since July 2023, when it concluded its final tour.

7 Best Moments From Dead & Company’s Kickoff Celebrating 60 Years of the Grateful Dead in SF

After an opening set by jamgrass phenom Billy Strings, Dead & Company – comprised of Grateful Dead founders Bobby Weir and Mickey Hart, alongside John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane – dove into its catalog with gusto for two crowd-pleasing sets that spanned material from the Dead’s 30-year career. Highlights included guest appearances by Grahame Lesh (for “Box of Rain,” the beloved Dead song written and sung by his late father, Grateful Dead founding member Phil Lesh) and Strings (for the Dead classic “Wharf Rat”), as well as a touching encore of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” that honored the date, which would have been Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia’s 83rd birthday.

Dead & Company’s setlist choices on Friday leave plenty of options on the table for fans returning on Saturday and Sunday – the band rarely, if ever, repeats a song during these sorts of runs – including classics like “Touch of Grey,” “Casey Jones” and “Truckin’.” On Saturday, Sturgill Simpson will open the show under his “Johnny Blue Skies” moniker, while on Sunday, Phish frontman Trey Anastasio will kick off the festivities.

Here’s a look at Dead & Company’s full opening-night setlist for its three-show San Francisco run celebrating 60 years of the Grateful Dead.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Watch Eminem’s Hilarious Outtakes From ‘Happy Gilmore 2’: ‘Put Some Respect on My Name, B—h’

Published

on

By

Eminem made a memorable cameo in Happy Gilmore 2, in which he played the role of Donald Jr. Now, Netflix has released the outtakes from his hilarious scenes, which Em posted to Instagram on Friday (Aug. 1).

In the sequel, Slim Shady pays homage to his character’s father — played by late comedian Joe Flaherty in the original film — by shouting “jackass” during Happy Gilmore’s (Adam Sandler) backswing.

Adam Sandler Reveals How He Got Eminem to Make a Cameo in ‘Happy Gilmore 2’

Wrangler Tucker Wetmore

Wrangler Goes All-Terrain With Latest Apparel Collection Backed by Country Star Tucker Wetmore

Nordstrom sale

Shop Last Minute Deals on Products From Top Brands Like Kiehl's, Le Creuset and Hydro Flask Before Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale Ends

Instead of handling Donald Jr. himself, Happy Gilmore instructs his kids in the flick to take care of him, disposing of him in a nearby pond. Unfortunately, Donald Jr. meets his demise while attempting to wrestle with a family of gators.

“Come on, fake a— dinosaur, you ain’t got a d—k,” Em jokes while battling the alligators in the outtakes. “Put some respect on my name, b—h! F—k you, Detroit, what? I get some Advil, I’ll be back in 20 minutes.”

Fans seemed to enjoy seeing Eminem back in the acting world. “That was awesome! Detroit what,” one person wrote in the Instagram comments. “You should get out more man, do more of this kind of stuff. Us stans need MORE!”

Another added in his comment section: “You’re naturally funny! Please release the whole 1 hour video of you in Happy Gilmore!”

Happy Gilmore 2 hit Netflix on July 25. On the The Dan Patrick Show last month, Sandler revealed how he convinced Em to be part of the sequel.

“I love Eminem. I’m friends with Eminem, but I don’t want to bother the man,” he said. “And everybody kept saying, ‘Man, Eminem would be so funny in this part.’ I was like, ‘I don’t want to ruin this guy’s time. He’s hanging out. He’s in Detroit. He’s doing his life making records.'”

Eventually, Sandler caved after agreeing that Em would be a perfect fit for the role. “Let me bug Marshall and give him a call and say, ‘Dude, I know it’s a pain in the a—, but it’s pretty funny. You mind shooting out to us for a day?’” To which Eminem obliged and the rest is history.

Watch the outtakes clip below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Marshall Mathers (@eminem)

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Stevie Nicks Postpones 2 Months of Shows Due to Shoulder Injury, Apologizes For ‘Inconvenience’

Published

on

By

Stevie Nicks has had a change of plans after suffering a recent injury, with the Fleetwood Mac frontwoman announcing Friday (Aug. 1) that her next two months of shows will be postponed as she heals.

Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham Tease Project With Sunset Boulevard Billboard

Stevie Nicks performs onstage during the FIREAID Benefit Concert for California Fire Relief at The Kia Forum on January 30, 2025 in Inglewood, California.  (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for FIREAID)

Stevie Nicks Says She’s Working on First New Album in 14 Years: ‘They’re Real Stories of Memories of Mine’

STEVIE NICKS

Stevie Nicks ‘Can’t Wait’ to Hit the Road on Newly Announced Solo Tour: Here Are the Dates

In a note shared to her social media accounts, Nicks’ team wrote, “Due to a recent injury resulting in a fractured shoulder that will require recovery time, Stevie Nicks’ scheduled concerts in August and September will be rescheduled.”

Noting that the star will proceed with her shows in October as scheduled, the message concludes, “Stevie looks forward to seeing everyone soon and apologizes to the fans for this inconvenience.”

Fans with tickets to any of the postponed performances are encouraged to hold onto their seats, as all previously purchased tickets will be honored at their corresponding rescheduled shows. More information can be found at point of purchase.

Nicks had been slated to perform in a handful of cities across the United States and Canada across August and September, including Detroit, Toronto, Boston, Cincinnati and Brooklyn, N.Y. All of the postponed shows have already been rescheduled to new dates in late October, November and the first couple of weeks in December, as listed in the rock star’s post and on her website.

The news of Nicks’ injury comes more than three months after she first announced her solo tour in April, writing at the time that she couldn’t “wait to share these nights with you.”

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer had also been supposed to tour with Billy Joel this year, but the Piano Man similarly had to cancel all of his 2025 and 2026 performances as he battles a condition called normal pressure hydrocephalus. In July, he provided an update on how he’s faring, telling Bill Maher, “I feel good … They keep referring to what I have as a brain disorder, so it sounds a lot worse than what I’m feeling.”

Nicks is currently working on a new album, her first in 14 years. The Grammy winner first revealed that she was getting back into the studio as she was being inducted into the Pollstar Hall of Fame.

“I call it the ghost record,” she said in her speech. “It just really kinda happened in the last couple of weeks because of, you know, the [Los Angeles] fires. I was sitting in a hotel for 92 days, and at some point during that last part of the 92 days, I said, ‘You know what? I feel like I’m on the road, but there’s no shows. I’m just sitting here by myself, because everybody else is at the house, doing all the remediations and everything, and it’s just me, sitting here.’ And I thought, ‘You need to go back to work.’ And I did.”

See Nicks’ post below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Stevie Nicks (@stevienicks)

Continue Reading

Trending