Making commercial music more accessible through technology, transparency and collaboration with the music industry.
Music has always played an essential role in how we tell stories. From advertising and film to video games and social media, the right song can create an emotional connection, bring an idea to life and make content memorable. Yet, while access to music has never been greater, licensing the right commercial music for visual content can still be a challenging process.
As the ways we create and consume content continue to evolve, so too must the infrastructure that connects music with the people who want to use it. At MAIA Universe we believe there is a significant opportunity to make commercially released music more accessible through technology, transparency and closer collaboration with the music industry.
The value of commercial music in a changing creative landscape
Visual storytellers today have more options than ever when it comes to sourcing music. Production libraries, royalty-free catalogues and, increasingly, AI-generated music provide convenient alternatives for creators working to tight deadlines and budgets.
But commercially released music offers something distinctive. These are songs people already know, listen to and connect with. They carry cultural recognition, emotional associations and the unique creative expression of the songwriters, performers and producers behind them.
As AI-generated music becomes another readily available option, we believe the value of human artistry and commercially released music deserves continued attention and devotion. The question is not whether new technologies will change how music is created or used. They undoubtedly will. The question is how the music industry can ensure that its extraordinary catalogues of human-created music remains accessible and attractive in this changing landscape.
For that to happen, licensing needs to work in a way that meets the expectations of today's visual storytellers workflow.
Making commercial music more accessible
One of the recurring challenges we hear from customers is not necessarily finding music they love, but understanding what it takes to license it.
Knowing which rights are required, what a song will cost and how long the licensing process might take can influence whether a creative team feels confident moving forward with a particular track. Uncertainty around these factors can make budgeting and production planning difficult.
When commercial music feels unpredictable to license, visual storytellers may turn to production libraries or other alternatives simply because the budgeting and licensing processes are easier to plan around.
We see an opportunity to change that experience.
At MAIA Universe, we have built a platform that helps visual creative teams license the music they love faster. Our approach centres on three important elements: a unified sync license, transparent pricing and a fast licensing process.
To legally use a song, both the master recording rights and the publishing rights music be cleared. Rather than requiring customers to navigate these separately, MAIA Universe provides one unified license covering both rights, with both cleared ahead of a creators request to use it.
Our pricing model is also designed to provide greater transparency from the outset. Each song has a reference price set by its rights holders, with the final licensing price adapting dynamically to a customers project settings, including term, territory and usage length. This allows customers to understand the cost of licensing a song as their project requirements change, making it easier to plan and make informed creative decisions.
We are continually developing the speed and efficiency of the licensing process, with the ambition of making commercial music licensing increasingly straightforward for everyone involved.
Building the future through industry collaboration
Technology is an important part of streamlining commercial music licensing, but technology alone is not enough. The music industry is built on the relationships between artists, songwriters, publishers, record labels and the organisations that represent and protect their work. Any meaningful development in licensing needs to recognise and work alongside that existing infrastructure.
That is why collaboration with rights holders has been central to the development of MAIA Universe.
We have established relationships with more than 200 record labels and 90 music publishers, bringing an extensive range of commercially released music to a single licensing destination. Our growing network includes Sony Music Entertainment UK, Sony Music Publishing UK, Warner Chappell Music, Warner Music Group, BMG, Kobalt, Cooking Vinyl and Playground Music as well as many more independent labels and publishers.
Recent agreements with BMG, Kobalt, Warner Music Group and Cooking Vinyl represent an important step in that development. The BMG agreement covers both publishing and recordings, Kobalt's agreement covers publishing, while the agreements with Warner Music Group and Cooking Vinyl cover recordings.
The relationships are significant not simply because of the catalogues they make available, but because they reflect a shared recognition of the opportunities that technology can create for music licensing.
For rights holders, making music available through MAIA Universe provides another route for their catalogues to reach brands, agencies, filmmakers, game developers and other visual storytellers. Importantly, rights holders retain full control over their music, pricing, usage restrictions and approval policies.
We believe that autonomy is fundamental. Every catalogue has its own commercial considerations and licensing strategy. Our role is to provide the infrastructure and support that allows rights holders to participate in this market on their own terms, while exposing them to the commercial opportunities available through sync licensing.
Strengthening the foundations for the industry
An important part of building better licensing infrastructure is working with the organisations that already play a central role in managing and representing music rights.
Our partnership with the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) is a significant example of this.
As part of the MCPS enhanced operating model, MAIA Universe has been appointed as its partner for automated sync licensing. Through this collaboration, we will provide sync licensing services for MCPS members who have mandated their synchronisation rights to the society, helping connect their music with opportunities across advertising, film, social content and video games.
The partnership brings together MCPS's established rights management framework with our technology and licensing infrastructure. Is is designed to create additional opportunities for songwriters, composers and publishers to generate revenue through the use of their works in visual content.
An initial pilot is planned for early 2027, ahead of a wider rollout during the year. Participation will be optional for members, and the MCPS will continue to provide direct sync licensing services for repertoire not made available through MAIA Universe.
For us, this is an important example of how technology and established music industry organisations can work together to develop new licensing opportunities while building on existing relationships and expertise.
Investing in the licensing infrastructure of the future
Building meaningful infrastructure takes time, investment and long-term commitment. It also requires strong relationships with people who understand both the creative and commercial sides of the music industry.
We are therefore particularly pleased to have secured strategic investment from a group of industry figures and businesses who share our belief in the opportunity ahead.
Our investors include ABBA co-founder Björn Ulvaeus, MxM, the songwriting and production company founded by Max Martin, and the RMV team, led by Ludvig Andersson.
Their support represents more than just confidence in the platform we have built so far. Their support enables us to continue developing the licensing infrastructure for commercial music, strengthen our relationships with rights holders and pursue partnerships that can help create new opportunities across the industry.
Our work with the MCPS is one example of what our continued development can make possible. By combining technology with established industry relationships, we can help create a more connected licensing environment that benefits both the people who own and represent commercial music and the people who want to use it.
A shared opportunity for the future of commercial music licensing
We believe the future of music licensing will be shaped by collaboration between the creative, rights and technology communities.
The music industry has an extraordinary wealth of commercially released music, created by talented artists, songwriters and producers across generations and genres. Making more of that music accessible to visual storytellers represents an opportunity for the entire music industry.
Rights holders have an important role to play in shaping what comes next. By choosing to make their catalogues available through new licensing channels, they can create additional opportunities for their music while retaining control over how it is used and valued.
At MAIA Universe, our ambition is to keep building the technology, partnerships and infrastructure that make this possible. We want to support the people who create and represent music, while giving visual storytellers a more streamlined way to license the songs they love.
We don't believe this future needs to be built by replacing existing industry relationships or reinventing everything that already works. It is about bringing the right people, music and technology together to make more possible.
Because the music we love, and the people who make it, deserve to be part of the stories of the future.