Musical AI Raises $4.5M to Scale Attribution Technology for AI Generated Music

Musical AI has closed a $4.5 million funding round led by Heavybit, with participation from BDC and Build Ventures. The company provides attribution and rights management infrastructure for AI generated music, addressing one of the most pressing legal challenges in the generative AI space.

The funding will support team expansion, further development of Musical AI's proprietary attribution technology, and new industry partnerships. The announcement marks a significant milestone in efforts to create compliant, ethical frameworks for AI music generation.

The Funding Round

Heavybit led the $4.5 million investment, with strategic participation from BDC and Build Ventures. The funding structure reflects growing investor confidence in legal infrastructure for generative AI.

"Musical AI's attribution technology is essential infrastructure that will enable and accelerate every media focused AI product," said Jesse Robbins, General Partner at Heavybit. "AI companies now have a seamless way to properly license, train, and use content while ensuring creators are credited and paid properly."

Sean Power, CEO and co-founder of Musical AI, emphasized the company's mission to prove that attribution and licensing are compatible with AI development. "Some claim attribution, licensing and AI are incompatible, or that only the largest players in the business can deploy it due to the cost and complexity. We have proved them wrong," Power stated. "We have made attribution simple and turnkey."

How Attribution Technology Works

Musical AI's core innovation lies in its ability to trace what training data influenced specific generative AI outputs. The platform can parse what percentage of a generated output came from which source, enabling granular rights management and compensation.

The platform serves both sides of AI training. Rightsholders can monitor, take down, and sunset usage of works they own. AI companies can access quality licensed data and use Musical AI's reports to monitor usage and pay rightsholders on an ongoing basis.

This technical capability addresses a critical gap in the current AI landscape. Without attribution technology, AI companies risk legal liability from unlicensed training data, while creators lose compensation for work used in AI model training.

Industry Partnerships and Deployment

Musical AI has secured partnerships with prominent audio rightsholders across multiple categories. Pro Sound Effects and SourceAudio provide sound effects and production libraries. Symphonic Distribution represents independent music creators.

The technology is already deployed in production systems. SoundBreak AI, formerly known as SESHY, has used Musical AI to ensure its models train exclusively on licensed works with proper attribution. "Our business is built upon using licensed data sets with attribution for our AI model. Working with Musical AI is a perfect fit," said Kevin Griffin, CEO and co-founder of SoundBreak AI and lead vocalist for rock band Better Than Ezra.

Musical AI also partners with Beatoven.ai, expanding its reach into AI music generation platforms that prioritize legal compliance.

Implications for AI Filmmakers

Musical AI's attribution technology has direct relevance for AI filmmakers working with AI generated soundtracks and scores. Studios using AI music generation tools face legal risks related to licensing and royalties. Musical AI's platform mitigates these risks by ensuring proper attribution and compensation.

Filmmakers using AI FILMS Studio's music generation tools will benefit as attribution infrastructure becomes more widely adopted across the industry. The ability to track what training data influenced specific musical outputs provides legal cover and ethical clarity for studios navigating AI generated content.

Musical AI plans to expand beyond music into other creative sectors. This trajectory suggests future applications in video, sound effects, and other media formats crucial to film production. As the company scales, AI filmmakers may gain access to comprehensive attribution systems across all aspects of audio post production.

The funding announcement comes as major filmmakers like David Cronenberg weigh in on AI's role in filmmaking, highlighting ongoing industry debates about AI ethics and creative rights. Attribution technology represents one concrete solution to concerns about AI undermining human creativity.

Power emphasized this vision in the funding announcement. "We can not only license IP but also pay all involved rightsholders accurately and consistently," he said. "This ensures the future of human creativity will be enriched, not undermined, by AI."

---

Sources

Music Business Worldwide: "Musical AI bags $4.5m in funding round to scale AI attribution tech" Published: January 2026 Read article

Digital Music News: "Musical AI Funding January 2026" Published: January 2026 Read article

RouteNote Blog: "Musical AI Secures $4.5M" Published: January 2026 Read article

Musical AI Official Press Release: "Musical AI Raises $4.5M US to Expand its Proprietary AI Attribution Technology" Company website

LinkedIn Announcement: Sean Power (Musical AI CEO) View post