Warner Music faced backlash over sexualizing its newest artist — an artificial intelligence-generated pop star named Noonoouri who wants “to make a 12 year old look sexy.”
The record label made history by signing the first AI musician and released a debuting single, “Dominoes,” on Sept. 1 — accompanied by a nearly 3-minute music video of the blue-haired Noonoouri prancing in a bikini from Kim Kardashians Skims collection.
The virtual influencer was created in 2018 by 43-year-old German graphic designer Joerg Zuber, who conceived Noonoouri as a 19-year-old metaverse avatar.
The literal icon has starred in campaigns for fashion houses 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, 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.
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.”
“Here comes the end of any real music,” another wrote, while a third chimed in that the Warner Music-Noonoouri deal “is concerning for all you real singers and musicians out there.”
Zuber has said Noonoouri is a combination of fashion model Naomi Campbell and Kardashian, the “face of social media.”
On Noonoouri’s Instagram post announcing the release of her single to her 400,000-plus followers, one commenter questioned: “Explain to me why there is half naked CGI child here?”
The virtual influencer tagged IMG Models Worldwide in the post, where she’s represented as a fashion model and racked up a portfolio that includes photoshoots for Elle, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and L’Officiel.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, the sentiment is the same.
Another called the video, which has over 55,000 views, a combination of “sexualizing children and a– music.”
“Boss Baby’s head on a womanly body? You can’t spell Noonoouri without NO,” one user wrote.
Meanwhile, another called the “scantily-clad” digital star “disgusting.”
“Noonoouri is so f–king creepy and tacky. I despise the b–ch,” one scathing comment said.
Representatives for Warner Music did not immediately respond to noti.group’s request for comment.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
