What happens when a made-up virtual rapper signs a deal with a major record label? In the case of FN Meka, a digitally rendered black artist largely controlled by artificial intelligence and non-black creators, major missteps and public reaction to “digital blackface” quickly led to a fiery end. Within a few weeks, Capitol Records canceled its dealhis Instagram went private and most of his TikToks were deleted.
The saga has revived ongoing conversations about cultural appropriation and racism in AI, given Meka’s use of the N-word and a fabricated backstory about his time in prison. However, the fact that the “robot rapper” even landed a recording contract and amassed more than 10 million followers on TikTok shows that the interest in virtual influencers has persisted, six years after another virtual project – Lil Miquela, an LA-based singer and model. – became an online sensation.
While virtual influencers are not yet household names in the US, digital avatars have an outsized presence in Japan, South Korea and China, markets where these humanoid CGI characters are often used for major branding and modeling campaigns. Hatsune Miku, a virtual star created by the Japanese company Crypton Future Media, regularly sells concerts in which she appears as a hologram and even opened for Lady Gaga on her artpop tour in 2014.
As the US catches up, virtual influencers meet the fervor around popular NFT collections like the bored monkey Hunting Club. In March, WME signed a DJ duo of Bored Apes. Known as Escape planTo be clear, the brother monkeys are controlled by the people at entertainment management company Big Night Talent. The duo has already collaborated with artists such as Dillon Francis and Rich the Kid.
“Some of the reasons they are so successful and have gained traction from real celebrity talent is because they are backed by successful IP. Bored Ape Yacht Club is the most popular NFT collection – it’s probably the most famous by far. So the content is already resonating with people,” said Kate Lonczak, a digital strategy agent at WME who works with Escape Plan. The Hollywood Reporter. “You just exploit that IP into something bigger, give it a backstory and give people content to digest.”
While Capitol Records may have been alarmed by his missteps with Meka – agents who spoke to THR say the deal and its talent should have been vetted more closely – another Universal Music Group label is working on a virtual project. The brainchild of Celine Joshua, founder of Universal’s experimental 10:22 record label, another Bored Apes quartet, Kingship, has struck a deal with Mars Inc. for a special collection of M&Ms and, perhaps more importantly, producers James Fauntleroy and Chauncey Hollis Jr. (aka Hit-Boy) to create music for the band.
“It’s no different than if they were making the sound and music for soundtracks,” says Joshua, pointing to Hit-Boy’s work on EA Sports’ madden video game franchise as an example. “They are not the face of it, but their music and their art and their creation is the heart” [of the project].”
At the back, the deals for virtual projects can resemble similar pacts with human talent that have a cadre of managers, publicists and lawyers before them. The money is only distributed a little differently, based on factors such as who is responsible for creating the art, technology and story for the virtual influencer.
“Each case is unique because certain virtual avatars use different technology,” said Adam Friedman, who leads CAA’s NFT work. “The technology allows consumers to interact with, view and consume content based on these avatars.”
Influencer Marketing Hub estimates that Lil Miquela, who has more than 3 million followers on Instagram, could earn more than $10,000 for a sponsored post. While Joshua has not disclosed any details, the executive says any creator or artist working on Kingship, including Hit-Boy and Fauntleroy, is built into the royalty model and will receive secondary royalties created by Kingship.
Friedman says the money eventually goes to the avatar’s owner. “Although we treat these people as people, in the sense that you see Miquela, for example, the face of PacSun, Miquela cannot enter into a contract herself. There is a team around her to do that,” Friedman says, adding that there is also a cost involved in fulfilling the appearances of a digital influencer that doesn’t exist with human customers.
“If you are going to do a brand or content deal, that content has to be created. If you’re going to guest-star on a TV show, that person just can’t walk on set. There has to be some kind of technology that makes that possible,” Friedman says. “To create it ‘showing up’ for the avatar or virtual influencer, you have to factor in those costs.”
So what is the appeal for companies and brands in working with an AI influencer? At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, the possibilities for digital avatar campaigns can go beyond human capabilities, as no human is the protagonist. Storylines can be tailored to the tastes of marketers, and the overall deal – depending on the talent – can be cheaper than a deal with a traditional, human influencer. Big brands like LVMH, Calvin Klein and Samsung are already leveraging digital influencers, and the formation of new projects like Escape Plan and Kingship show where digital avatars are going. Athletes love Carmelo Anthony, Luka Doncic and Jack Nicklaus have all teamed up with AI companies to create digital versions of themselves, and estates have begun creating hyper-realistic models of deceased stars, such as piggyto give fans another chance to interact with them.
But as technology evolves and more creators get involved, ethical boundaries remain, especially if a digital avatar is based on a real human or is intended to mimic the characteristics of a human, as was the case with FN Meka.
“You can’t ignore the ethics, the regulatory environment, the anti-discriminatory laws that exist in the real world. You just can’t ignore them because it’s a digital world,” said Greg Cross, the CEO of Soul Machines, an AI company that specializes in creating human-like digital avatars and has their “digital twins” with Anthony and Nicklaus. worked. For Cross, that means working closely with estates and licensees to ensure that every digital avatar of a living or deceased celebrity is attentive and upholds the ‘legacy of the brand’. When creating humanoid avatars that are not based on a living person, whom Cross describes as “synthetic digital humans”, cultural sensitivity and diversity remain high priorities, and Soul Machines has a ethical policy and ethics council to review its projects.
As for the role of digital avatars in Hollywood, don’t expect people to be completely replaced by their digital counterparts.
“We are entering an increasingly digital world. It will not replace a face-to-face interaction with the real person. But we always talk about kids being inside Roblox and Fortnite and spending time in these virtual worlds, and increasingly,” said Phil Quist, a music and… web3 agent at CAA. “It seems like a natural transition to include virtual influencers in a brand strategy and have them play a role in some of these worlds we live in.”
A version of this story appeared in the September 28 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.