Epidemic Sound has acquired Song Sleuth, a company which uses music recognition technology to identify copyrighted music and claim “undiscovered royalties” from user-generated content.
The acquisition sees the immediate launch of Aentidote, a new service which combines Song Sleuth’s “cutting-edge AI technology” with Epidemic’s industry expertise to identify music usage that traditional detection systems struggle to find, like in remixes, covers and live recordings. Aentidote is said to offer an “unrivalled identification success rate” of up to 95%.
Put simply, Aentidote is designed to help platforms pay out more accurately so that artists and rights holders are paid – fairly and efficiently – for the use of their music across online platforms.
Song Sleuth is Epidemic’s third major acquisition in three years, following AP Records – now Overtone Studios – in 2022, and Soundly in 2023.
“From day one, our mission has been to create a win-win situation for everyone involved in this rapidly evolving creator economy,” says Oscar Höglund, CEO and Co-founder of Epidemic Sound.
“We’ve built a platform that helps artists thrive, generating over three billion daily plays across platforms like TikTok and YouTube. With Aentidote, we’re pairing that expertise with Song Sleuth’s cutting-edge technology to bring even greater value to the broader creator industry – giving music rights holders powerful tools to track usage and ensure they get paid, while supporting both creators and platforms with scalable, accurate identification solutions.”
According to Epidemic, Goldman Sachs predicts the creator economy will approach half a trillion dollars by 2027, meaning “increasing opportunities for rights holders, the industry, and artists to capture the full value of their work”.
“The complexity of music use across a plethora of digital platforms both officially distributed and user-generated, requires a different approach,” says Jordan Gross, CEO of Song Sleuth.
“By joining forces with Epidemic Sound, we’re scaling our vision to offer unprecedented clarity and control across the entire music ecosystem, providing platforms with ever more accurate identification systems, while giving artists, labels, and publishers confidence that their work is being both found and rewarded.”
The acquisition follows “strong financial results” for Epidemic Sound in 2024, with reported revenue growth of 29%.
For more information, head to Epidemic Sound.
The post With its acquisition of Song Sleuth, Epidemic Sound wants to help artists claim “undiscovered royalties” from user-generated content appeared first on MusicTech.
Recommended Comments
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.