Music Industry Moves: Liamani Signs to Def Jam Ahead of New Single Release

Singer-songwriter and Disney actor Liamani has signed with Def Jam Records, releasing her debut single with the label called “Sunkissed.”

The 16 year-old has received major co-signs from Justin Bieber and Mariah Carey since jump-starting her music career following her lead role on Disney’s “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.”

Liamani taught herself to sing at a very young age and began uploading covers of pop hits to YouTube where she caught the attention of several key industry players. This success can be traced back to the moment a five-year-old Liamani sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a school talent show, with a video of the performance gaining popularity online. “Sunkissed” is said to be part of her first project, due out in 2025.

+ Kerry Harrison has been appointed as the communications director at Rolling Loud.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Harrison joins Rolling Loud from publicity firm Audible Treats, where she was the director of publicity and oversaw publicity campaigns for a wide variety of festival and artist clients, including Rolling Loud, Sueños Festival, Chief Keef, Pi’erre Bourne, Eem Triplin, and more.

Rolling Loud will return for the second annual Rolling Loud Thailand from Nov. 22-24 in Pattaya City and will celebrate 10 Years of Rolling Loud at the flagship festival in Miami from Dec. 13-15 at Hard Rock Stadium.

+ Los Angeles-based AI music company KLAY Vision Inc. announced today that it is collaborating with Universal Music Group (UMG). The companies will work together to integrate an “ethical foundational model for AI generated music” at UMG, per a press release.

“KLAY aims to be the backbone for a new era of innovation, powering new products and experiences, committed to the premise that AI can bolster and grow musical creativity and human artistry,” the company writes. “Building generative AI music models ethically and fully respectful of copyright, as well as name and likeness rights, will dramatically lessen the threat to human creators and stand the greatest opportunity to be transformational, creating significant new avenues for creativity and future monetization of copyrights.”

KLAY is led by Ary Attie (music producer), Thomas Hesse (former president of Sony Music Entertainment), and Björn Winckler (joining soon from Google Deepmind).

Michael Nash, executive VP and chief digital officer of Universal Music said, “We are excited to partner with entrepreneurs like the team leading KLAY, to explore new opportunities and ethical solutions for artists and the wider music ecosystem, advancing generative AI technology in ways that are both respectful of copyright and have the potential to profoundly impact human creativity. UMG has always endeavored to lead the music industry in driving innovation, embracing new technologies and supporting entrepreneurship while protecting human artistry.”

Attie added, “Research is critical to building the foundations for AI music, but the tech is only an empty vessel when it doesn’t engage with the culture it is meant to serve. KLAY’s obsession is not just to showcase its research innovation but to make it invisible and mission-critical to people’s daily lives. Only then can music AI become more than a short-lived gimmick. Our great artists have always embraced the newest technologies – we believe the next Beatles will play with KLAY.”