Last week, BeatStars, the popular beat marketplace and rights platform for independent musicians, announced the acquisition of Lemonaide AI, an ethically-trained generative AI music company.
This acquisition builds on the partnership the two companies formed in 2023 which made Lemonaide’s technology available to users of BeatStars. The pair also worked together to develop fine-tuned AI tools for multi-platinum producers like Lex Luger, Kato On The Track, DJ Pain 1, Mantra and KXVI. Unlike other AI music companies at the time, which were looking to generate full songs, Lemonaide focused on generating “purposefully” short musical ideas to spark creativity within the user, as the 2023 press release stated.
Now, with the acquisition BeatStars aims to build “the future of AI-powered music creation with creators, not at their expense,” says a press release about the deal.
Lemonaide was founded by Michael “MJ” Jacob and Anirudh Mani, and now, under the new acquisition, the founders, along with the rest of the Lemonaide team, will join Beatstars to guide the integration and development of ethical AI tooling within BeatStars’ platform and rights infrastructure.
BeatStars notes that the center of its upcoming strategy with Lemonaide is to further grow BeatStars Rights, the company’s name for its group of tools that helps independent music makers manage their rights, including BeatStars Publishing and Creator Rights Agency. “Together, these systems ensure that every element used in an AI-assisted production can be registered, tracked, managed, and monetized at scale,” the press release reads.
“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,” says Abe Batshon, founder and CEO, BeatStars.
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News of the deal builds on an emerging trend of AI music start-ups selling to more established firms. Last week, Splice announced its acquisition of Kits AI, an AI-powered voice company, and in 2025, Epidemic Sound acquired Song Sleuth, an AI music recognition startup.
“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,” adds 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,” says 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,” says Sean Gorman, COO of BeatStars.
