Udio, a new AI-powered music-making app developed by former Google DeepMind researchers, launched with $10 million in seed funding. The app promises to simplify music creation, allowing users to generate mastered tracks in less than 40 seconds. Users can describe their desired music genre, input lyrics, and list inspirational artists to create music, which they can then edit and remix within the app.
The funding round drew a diverse group of investors, including venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger, and Google’s Oriol Vinyals. Music industry figures like will.i.am, Common, and producer Tay Keith also backed the project, along with UnitedMasters, a DIY distribution platform recently valued at $550 million.
Andreessen Horowitz has been active in discussions about AI’s legal landscape, notably submitting a paper advocating for AI training on copyrighted material under ‘fair use’ in the U.S. This stance contrasts with entities like Universal Music Group, which is suing another AI platform for copyright infringement. Reports suggest Udio may also be using copyrighted music without permission, raising potential legal questions similar to those faced by its industry peers.
