Image Credits:<\/strong> Itoka<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

If the idea of tying licensing to the blockchain \u2014 a shared, immutable ledger to track assets \u2014 sounds familiar, that\u2019s because Itoka\u2019s not the first startup to attempt to do so.<\/p>\n

Just a few months ago, web3 project Dequency launched a decentralized portal for music rights holders and creators that allows for ostensibly easier licensing and payments for content. Around the same time, music producer Justin Blau, also known as 3LAU, launched a song licensing service called Royal, which collaborated with the popular rapper Nas to allow fans to acquire nonfungible tokens (NFTs) that gave them ownership rights over some of the artist\u2019s songs.<\/p>\n

But alongside its blockchain-based licensing scheme, Itoka offers music creation tools powered by music-generating AI models. And it plans to partner with musicians who contribute their work for AI training purposes on a compensation plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the future, everyone will have the power to produce music, and there will be a massive amount of quality music produced every day for various purposes,\u201d Yang and Chen said. \u201cAs music production becomes democratized, the establishment of the current music industry and its monopoly will be significantly undermined. This will urge people to rethink creativity and artistry in content creation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Itoka\u2019s music generation tools, at least as they exist today, are simpler than those lofty words might suggest.<\/p>\n

After creating an account, users can choose from one of several genres and sentiments \u2014 including \u201cEDM,\u201d \u201cHip Hop,\u201d \u201cLofi\u201d and \u201cEmotional\u201d \u2014 to have Itoka\u2019s engine generate a five-track song automatically, in the background. After choosing album art for the new song, Itoka throws users into a block-based composing interface, where they can edit aspects such as the song\u2019s tempo, bass and chords.<\/p>\n