Sports & Entertainment Spotlight

Welcome back to the Spotlight! This past week, amidst Halloween candy sorting (and sampling…and re-sampling…) a recording artist by the name of Xania Monet generated enough radio play to make a historic appearance on the Billboard R&B charts. Why was it historic? Not because Xania Monet is a relative of French impressionist Claude (though, kudos to you for retaining art history), but rather because Xania Monet is a relative of Claude…and Alexa…and Siri…and Grok. You see, Xania Monet is a creation of Telisha “Nikki” Jones, who uses generative software and her own lyrics to bring Monet to “life.”

On the one hand, this represents a democratization of the music industry. On the other hand, it’s an anxiety-inducing moment for recording artists of the human variety. Put differently, the ease with which new AI-generated music can be pushed out makes it more likely for consumers’ mass consumption of Xania and likelier still for traditional musicians’ mass consumption of Xanax. Whether this is a passing fad or a sign of things to come (probably the latter), one thing is for certain: the Spotlight is proudly AI-free and authentic since its very first founding. And based on what I’ve seen from my late night trials, that’s not in danger of that changing any time soon!

• • Highly decorated Men’s tennis star adds a deal to his endorsement portfolio, leading a $5 million seed round for “corn-free popcorn” brand Cob. What’s this corn-free popcorn, you ask? It is a snack product made with sorghum – which is incidentally exactly what I experience when I get a corn kernel stuck in my teeth.
  • Following on the heels of this week’s Mayoral election in New York City, President Trump published (and was forced to take down) a doctored New York Knicks logo to satirize a different doctored New York Knicks logo that Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani used (for which he received a cease and desist letter) during his campaign. While I am relieved to see the Knicks not wading into the political morass, I am confused about why there seem to be more graphic designers than IP lawyers on both sides of the aisle.
  • Just when you thought the “K-Pop Demon Hunters” craze might be winding down after Halloween, Netflix announced that a sequel will be made, triggering a $15 million cash bonus for Sony film studio. Golden indeed.

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