The official launch comes nearly a month after BeatStars announced a strategic alliance with AI music startup Lemonaide, which has developed an AI-powered plug-in that generates ideas for beats.
According to BeatStars, the new “Seeds” tool is aimed at helping creators generate initial ideas, or “plant seeds” for their tracks.
It builds on the technology introduced by Lemonaide, which claims that its AI is trained “exclusively on voluntarily contributed data from producers” to generate millions of different combinations.
Lemonaide was founded in 2021 by Hip-Hop artist Michael “MJ” Jacob.
The startup also counts Anirudh Mani, an AI Research Scientist as a Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer.
BeatStars, founded by CEO Abe Batshon in 2008, says that it currently serves a community of over 10 million creators, producers, and recording artists globally, and as previously reported by MBW, it has been the source of samples for hits like Old Town Road by Lil Nas X, Whoopty by CJ.
Another recent hit song produced by a BeatStars member was d4vd’s Romantic Homicide.
Seeds tackles what Lemonaide describes as “beatblock” – a creative hindrance experienced by artists, or an artist’s block. By generating concise four-bar MIDI files, the startup claims that AI can provide a starting point for tracks, helping creators break through artistic slumps.
Through Seeds, creators can come up with initial ideas for their music tracks.
Coinciding with the launch of Seeds, BeatStars has also announced a series of changes to its membership offerings.
The new Professional plan, previously referred to as ‘Pro Page’, now includes Publishing services, YouTube Content ID, and fingerprinting for platforms like TikTok and Facebook.
The Professional plan includes other services, such as three free BeatID scans each month, discounts, and credits for the Promote feature, as well as exclusive access to a collection of free PROkits – valuable sound kits from renowned BeatStars producers.
Meanwhile, the Starter subscription plan, formerly known as Marketplace, now comes at what BeatStars says is “an 80% reduced price of $19 annually”.
BeatStars says that this plan offers members unlimited track uploads, along with the ability to join Beatstars Publishing “at no additional cost”.
BeatStars has paid out more than $250 million to its members through its marketplace and publishing services to date. The company has an existing partnership with Sony Music Publishing.
BeatStars’ entrance into the AI sector arrives as the development of AI expands rapidly in the music industry.
Just this week, YouTube and Universal Music Group partnered to develop AI music tools.