Our commitments to artists and content creators in the AI paradigm

At Epidemic Sound, human creativity will always come first. We believe in artists, their power to move people, to change the world. We believe in content creators, their ability to inspire, to galvanize.

That doesn’t mean we don’t believe in the transformative effects of technology, though. In fact, we embrace it – we’ve built our platform for content creators on technology, after all.

But in a world where AI dominates headlines and redefines norms, human talent will always lie at the core of our business. Technology is not a talent. Technology is a tool to empower talent.

Epidemic Sound was founded on a belief that music licensing should be simple and fair. In launching and honing that solution, we’ve utilized our two superpowers — music and technology — and focused on empowering, not hindering, two creative groups: artists and content creators.

• In 2009, we launched an industry-first music licensing model. It simplified the process for content creators and gave artists predictable payment for their tracks.
• In 2015, we created a music subscription service for YouTubers, catering to a new wave of content creators. Simultaneously, we started distributing tracks on music streaming platforms, introducing a 50/50 royalty split with artists.
• In 2021, we rolled out a third revenue stream for artists: our Soundtrack Bonus of $1.5 million, rising to $2 million in 2022, $2.5 million in 2023, and $2.9 million in 2024. Since 2021, we’ve expanded our suite of sophisticated, AI-powered music discovery tools for content creators, including EAR and Soundmatch.

But what happens when one of your core superpowers — technology — becomes so powerful, it sends entire industries running for cover through uncertainty?

Epidemic Sound is well-positioned here; our innovative rights structure provides clarity. We have full rights to our tracks by owning them outright, unrivaled data insight from billions of daily video views across online platforms, as well as a wealth of feedback from how people interact with music on our platform. This provides an excellent base to explore the latest developments within artificial intelligence, approach industry-wide challenges as exciting opportunities to grow our service and offering, while staying fiercely focused on the problems we’re solving for artists and content creators.  

These are our commitments to them — artists and content creators — as we continue to soundtrack the world together in the new AI paradigm.

Our Commitments in the AI Paradigm

1. Human creativity will always transcend technology

We will always invest in music from human artists, working directly with them as our primary focus. Human creativity can be supercharged by technology, but never replaced. 

2. AI music must provide another revenue stream for artists

If we choose to explore an AI music offering, we will develop our artist remuneration model as a core aspect of this. Our ambition is for this to be industry-leading.

3. AI tools must address genuine user needs

We will stay laser-focused on user needs, developing further AI-powered music discovery features and adaptive tools. Solving real problems for real content creators.

Our promise to our artists is that technology will never replace them. We pledge to use technology for their benefit, not their detriment. Epidemic Sound prioritizes and rewards talent and creativity above all else. Always. Meanwhile, we’ll keep building the best and most innovative soundtracking platform for content creators.

While others stand at a technological fork in the road, our path is clear. It’s the same one we’ve always walked with our artists and creators, only now we’re sprinting.