Partnership Overview
Online musical market BeatStars collaborates with the AI defense startup Sureel to prevent unauthorized artificial intelligence systems from training on their catalog of beats and songs.
According to the agreement, Sureel will register BeatStars‘ entire market catalog in its database, allowing AI companies to verify which tracks are prohibited from using data.
Sureel will also offer a toolbar for BeatStars and its creators that displays which AI models attempted to train on protected content.
Background on the Collaboration
Founded by Dr. Tamai Aikut, a former assistant professor at Stanford, Sureel aims to provide “advanced solutions based on explanatory AI to help creators maintain full control and monetize their intellectual property amidst challenges regarding AI-generated content.”
The agreement also features an invitation-only portal and an API that approved AI developers can use to identify which tracks on the BeatStars platform were denied AI training.
This partnership occurs in the context of increasing legal disputes between content owners and AI developers. Over the past year, major music companies filed lawsuits against AI Suno and Surprise for allegedly training their systems using copyrighted material without permission. These AI startups have largely responded to judicial statements, claiming “fair use” for training AI models on copyrighted content.
“This partnership… shows the rest of the industry what responsible cooperation with AI looks like.”
Dr. Tamai Aikut, Sureel
“We recognize that some AI companies may not honor intellectual property, so we are taking decisive actions to safeguard and enhance the value of our community’s work. Ethical artificial intelligence is the future, and we are committed to ensuring that creators are not left behind,” said Abe Batshon, CEO of BeatStars, emphasizing that the partnership with Sureel “continues our longstanding commitment to prioritize creators.”
In June last year, BeatStars announced it had paid 325 million dollars to creators who license and sell beats and sounds through their platform since its launch in 2009. MBW previously reported that BeatStars was a source of samples for hits such as Old Town Road by Lil Nas X and Velocity by CJ.
“BeatStars is not just a marketplace; it’s one of the most significant communities of creators in the world,” commented Dr. Aikut, who is the CEO of Sureel. “They have built their platform around trust, transparency, and artist management. This is precisely the environment where our technology fits. This partnership demonstrates that innovation and ethics can scale together—and sets a standard for responsible cooperation with AI across the industry.”
BeatStars teams up with Sureel to block AI companies from training on creator content
