Endel, an artificial intelligence sound wellness company, and Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, announced a groundbreaking strategic partnership that will enable artists and labels to harness the power of AI to create soundscapes for sleeping, relaxing, and focusing every day.
UMG and Endel will use Endel’s proprietary AI technology to enable artists to create science-backed soundscapes to enhance listeners’ wellness, including new music and remastered catalog songs. The partnership will always respect creators’ rights and place artists at the center of their creative processes.
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Under the new agreement, UMG will announce the first wave of soundscapes in the coming months. Previously, Endel worked with Republic Records artist James Blake, who released a soundscape album called Wind Down in May 2022.
Announcing the new partnership, Universal Music Group’s EVP and Chief Digital Officer Michael Nash said, “At UMG, we believe in the incredible potential of ethical AI as a tool to support and enhance the creativity of our artists, labels, and songwriters, something that Endel has harnessed with impressive ingenuity and scientific innovation. We are excited to work together and utilize their patented AI technology to create new music soundscapes – anchored in our artist-centric philosophy – that are designed to enhance audience wellness, powered by AI that respects artists’ rights in its development.”
“Endel has been artist- and human-focused from day one. Our goal was always to help people focus, relax, and sleep with the power of sound. AI is the perfect tool for this. Today, seeing our technology being applied to turn your favorite music into functional soundscapes is a dream come true. We’re extremely excited to put Endel AI to work and help UMG build new and exciting offerings to promote wellness and banish the perceived threat around AI,” said Oleg Stavitsky, Endel’s CEO.
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Endels’ soundscapes are designed to help you sleep well, stay focused, and perform other daily tasks effectively. Among others, they have worked with James Blake and Miguel and Grimes. Using stems provided by artists, Endel creates soundscapes based on scientific insights into how music affects our emotional state. Final approval is given to the results by artists and their teams when crafting static albums. Creating these soundscapes offers artists and rights holders a new opportunity to generate additional revenue for their catalogs while expanding their work into new areas, moments, and situations in fans’ lives and promoting listener wellness.
Functional music enhances and optimizes daily routines like reading, running, or sleeping. Music has been shown to improve mental health and wellness, athletic performance, sleep quality, and hygiene. Functional music is one of the most popular subcategories of music listening worldwide, accounting for around 15 billion monthly streams across all platforms. Subpar offerings have plagued the category for quite some time, but now artists are able to utilize functional music insights to expand and reimagine their work. By using AI technology, artists are ethically enhancing rather than exploiting copyrighted works to create derivative generative soundscapes.
“It’s extremely exciting to see UMG embracing artist-driven AI. Endel allows music companies like UMG to draw on the astounding capabilities of AI and functional music while respecting their artists’ rights,” reflects Stavitsky. “In that way, Endel acts more as a collaborator than a tool, giving artists control and freedom while satisfying a real market need for more music that can support their wellbeing.”
