Manager and entrepreneur Romel Murphy‘s dai + drm (pronounced ‘daydream’) has inked a multi-million dollar joint venture with Create Music Group, according to a press release about the deal. Murphy, who has enjoyed recent success with the launch of AI-assisted gospel artist Xania Monet, is building a “future-forward music label” that spans label services, management, consulting and marketing through the new deal, adding on to dai + drm’s established management and consulting branches.
Already, the JV has signed “AI-driven songwriters” Solomon Ray, Nova Sole and Aria Blu, as well as what it calls “traditional artists” (artists who do not use AI) like Jenneske, Renee Harmoni and IME Casino. The label describes these AI creatives as “AI-driven songwriters” because, through the use of generative AI, human songwriters who back the projects are able to bring their song ideas to life by creating AI-assisted or AI-generated master recordings.
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Murphy plans to apply the experience he’s had managing Telisha Jones — the woman behind Monet, who uses Suno to take her poems into AI-assisted songs — and her signing to Hallwood Media to make dai + drm into a next-generation label that applies “modern tools, including AI, to help [signees] scale their impact without compromising authenticity or ownership,” a press release states.
“This hybrid approach [to signing AI-driven and human talent] allows dai + drm to bridge worlds, pairing real music expertise with cutting-edge technology to serve creators across genres and formats,” says the press release about the deal.
The company wants its signees to be able to “retain equity and monetize across both master recordings and publishing,” according to the press release, to achieve “long-term sustainability and creative control.” (Note: dai + drm is a label, not a publisher).
“At every major shift in music, songwriters are often left out of the conversation,” says Murphy. “My goal is to make sure songwriters are at the forefront of AI in music, seated at the table, not getting crumbs, while maintaining ownership and long-term equity in their work.”
“Romel is an extremely bright entrepreneur. We look forward to seeing his record label flourish,” said Jonathan Strauss, CEO of Create Music Group, in a statement.