BandLab Technologies and AI-generated music
Profiles on BandLab Technologies (BLT), SongStarter, and other AI-based music features
This post covers what’s known about BandLab Technologies, one of the four leading Asian companies in genAI music as of June 2024. Updates will follow as more information becomes known or new product announcements are made.
This post supports Part 3 in our 8-part series on ethics of generative AI for music, announced in this INTRODUCTION post on 6 ‘P's in AI Pods1. Subscribe to be notified when new articles are published (it’s FREE!)
This article is not a substitute for legal advice. It is meant for general information only.
BandLab Technologies (BLT, Singapore)
History & Partnerships
BandLab Technologies was founded in 2015. They have had two sizeable Series B funding rounds and remain privately held.
Caldecott Music Group was formed in 2021 with 3 divisions: BandLab Technologies, Vista Musical Instruments, and NME Networks. NME (formerly New Musical Express) includes Guitar.com, NME for discovering artists, and MusicTech for creator tools and technologies. BLT also owned 49% of Rolling Stone magazine from 2016-2019. Their most recent acquisition was Gawker Media.
Drew Silverstein has been “Senior Advisor, AI, Innovation, and Strategy” to BLT since March 2022. He was formerly the co-founder and CEO of genAI music company Amper Music. After Shutterstock acquired Amper Music, Silverstein was VP of Music at Shutterstock. (Amper Music/Shutterstock is no longer open to users to create new content.)
BLT’s flagship offering is BandLab, a “mobile-first social music platform”. They also acquired a number of music companies, including Airbit (“beat marketplace”), Cakewalk (“advanced music tools” for music production), and ReverbNation (“powerful artist services”) (site, MBW ref). As of June 2023, they already had 60 million registered users. As of June 30, 2024, their membership page now boasts a community of 100 million users.
On Oct. 18, 2023, BLT and Universal Music Group (UMG) announced a “strategic collaboration” to promote responsible AI, including “creator rights”
On April 25, 2024, BLT and Warner Chappell Music announced a partnership with ReverbNation. Warner Chappell Music is “the global music publishing company of Warner Music Group” (WMG).
UMG and WMG are among the lead plaintiffs in the Suno and Udio lawsuits filed on June 24, 2024.2
Key Features
The BandLab site says its users can “Make music anytime, anywhere. Connect with millions. Release your tracks and engage with fans — keep 100% of your earnings.”
Their BandLab platform includes:
a music generator called SongStarter,
a Studio DAW,
a Sounds feature for royalty-free samples and loops,
a Mastering feature,
an Effects feature, and
a new Splitter.
They also have an AudioStretch tool for transcription and audio editing and a Drum Machine.
Beta features for paid users include:
Voice Cleaner (“noise reduction AI tool”),
Voice-to-MIDI (sing or hum and convert to 370+ instruments),
an enhanced 5-track Splitter using AI,
a 32-track Studio, and
enhanced mastering.
Training Data & Technologies
Their blog article on the Studio DAW describes SongStarter as an “AI-powered idea generator”. SongStarter, Splitter, and Voice Cleaner are all touted as using AI. There are no clear indications that they use generative AI to create vocals or instrumental tracks (e.g. in their Voice-to-MIDI feature), but it can’t be ruled out.
BandLab is not certified as Fairly Trained. No information is available on the training data they used for building any of these AI models. However, on Aug. 8, 2023, they were the only music creation company at the AI4 conference, where they took a public position as a supporter of the “Human Artistry CampAIgn”.
They offer an iOS app, an Android app, and a desktop assistant. BLT holds 12 patents, with applications pending for at least 5 more.
Ownership, Usage Rights, and Pricing
BandLab’s blog briefly addresses music rights:
“Instead of traditionally having one Music Work springing up many Sound Recordings, and then linking them to their respective performers, BandLab’s workflow is essentially flipped. Each Revision of a track with added track layers or collaborators becomes a Music Work in its own right, linking to the composers and performers who have a contributor. Each Revision then has the potential to become one Sound Recording.”
This writeup doesn’t suggest that BandLab claims any rights to the track revisions created by users in BandLab. Their site claims that creators can “keep 100% of your earnings”.
BandLab Studio is promoted in their blog as a “free DAW”. SongStarter is also advertised as free. Paid BandLab memberships include access to early features such as an AI-powered “Voice Cleaner” and Distribution access to Spotify and Apple Music. Membership is $14.95/month or $149.50/year. Discounts are sometimes available (e.g. 25% off through the 4th of July). Users with paid plans “keep 100% of your royalties and rights”. Only a 3-day free trial is available.
Users can pay tips to creators in the platform via Stripe, which charges a standard transaction fee; BLT does not take a cut of tips.
What’s Next?
Our next posts in the genAI music series will cover 7 major companies outside of Asia, and many more major and minor companies. Stay tuned!
End Notes
See this “AI for Music” page for a complete set of links to all posts and company profile pages in this article series.
![[INTRO] Unfair use? The ethics of generative AI for music](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_140,h_140,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F163f723a-f4fc-4701-84a8-3a81cad85775_4896x3264.jpeg)
WMG and UMG are among the plaintiffs in the Suno and Udio lawsuits filed on June 24, 2024. (link)
