BeatStars, the independent music marketplace and rights platform, has acquired Lemonaide AI, a generative music company focused on consent-based model training, in a move the companies frame as a bid to set a new standard for how AI tools are developed and monetized alongside creators.
The acquisition brings Lemonaide’s team and technology into BeatStars as the platform accelerates a rights-first approach to AI-assisted music creation. BeatStars said it has paid out more than $450 million to creators to date and positioned the deal as an extension of its broader “Artist First” strategy, including publishing and rights administration capabilities it expanded into in 2020.
BeatStars characterized the industry’s rapid AI adoption as a direct threat to creators’ economic participation if models are trained on music without permission, attribution, or compensation. Lemonaide was founded to address that issue by building generative models that resemble specific producers, with explicit consent, transparent attribution, and compensation built into the system. The two companies said they have spent the past three years collaborating on ethical AI tools, including fine-tuned models for producers such as Lex Luger, Kato On The Track, DJ Pain 1, Mantra, and KXVI.
Michael “MJ” Jacob and Anirudh Mani, Lemonaide’s co-founders, will join BeatStars and lead technology and innovation, with a mandate to integrate ethical AI tooling into BeatStars’ platform and rights infrastructure. BeatStars said the strategy will be anchored by BeatStars Rights, its unified framework that includes BeatStars Publishing and the Creator Rights Agency, designed to register, track, manage, and monetize elements used in AI-assisted productions at scale.
Company executives described the vision as enabling creators to accelerate workflows, expand output, and collaborate globally while maintaining authorship, ownership, and long-term monetization. BeatStars also pointed to a model where creators who train AI systems retain ongoing ownership participation in resulting outputs.
KEY QUOTES:
“AI is advancing faster than any technology the music industry has ever faced. And without decisive action, there is a real risk that creators will be erased from the value chain entirely by systems trained on their work without permission, attribution, or compensation.”
Abe Batshon, Founder & CEO of BeatStars
“This is not about replacing human creativity. It is about amplifying it in a way that respects the people who built this culture in the first place.”
Michael “MJ” Jacob, Co-founder of Lemonaide
“With BeatStars, we have the opportunity to push the frontier of AI in an ethical way. Our rights-first approach to generative AI proves innovation and ownership can move forward together.”
Anirudh Mani, Co-founder of Lemonaide
“This acquisition allows us to move ethical AI from principle to product. Our disruptive plan is that creators who train the models continue to get ownership in the outputs.”
Sean Gorman, Chief Operating Officer of BeatStars
