Delphos, a new AI-powered music generator founded by Anglo-Ukrainian father and son team Roman and Ilya Tolchenov, has launched to offer AI learning tools to artists, songwriters and copyright owners.
Delphos introduces a new concept called ‘Soundworld,’ allowing users to create their own AI-driven music generator. This technology enables artists to upload their existing ‘stems’ and utilize AI learning tools to compose, remix, and generate beats, all while maintaining control over their creative process and copyrights.
“Delphos can listen to a set of songs, learn the composition style and write new original music in that style,” Ilya Tolchenov said. “An individual musician can teach the generator and then use it to write their music faster. It’s like collaborating with yourself on your best day.”
Additionally, other creators can access individual Soundworlds for a fee, potentially opening new revenue streams for artists while preserving their copyrights.
Roman Tolchenov, founder and Chief Technology Officer at Delphos, brings over three decades of innovative tech development experience to the project, Delphos noted in a press release. His background in theoretical physics, combined with Ilya’s expertise as a mathematician, composer, and professional singer, forms the foundation of Delphos’ advanced AI capabilities. Ilya previously founded sheet music generation app Orarion.
“Delphos can listen to a set of songs, learn the composition style and write new original music in that style. An individual musician can teach the generator and then use it to write their music faster.”
Ilya Tolchenov, Delphos
In addition to the London-based founders, the company has also brought on board Angus Moncrieff, a film and TV composer, as Director of Music. Moncrieff will serve as a software developer and core designer of the Soundworld technology. His portfolio includes orchestration credits for BBC and ITV productions Ripper Street, Primeval and Marple, among others.
Matt Pelling, an early investor in Delphos and founder of sample library Loopmasters, is also involved in an advisory capacity.
The platform has also partnered with Roland Williams, the manager of Grammy-winning producer Zaytoven, known for his collaborations with artists such as Gucci Mane, Usher, Future, Migos, Lil Yachty, B.o.B, Waka Flocka Flame and Jack Harlow.
As part of the collaboration, Williams led the launch of beatworld.ai, a self-service portal powered by Delphos. This new platform offers professional-grade beats at competitive prices, targeting both emerging vocalists and labels requiring large-scale production, Delphos said.
“I have long been interested in technology that could allow artists, songwriters and producers to write music more efficiently and spend more time being creative. The core of any musical composition is a purely creative musical idea,” Ilya Tolchenov said.
“Roman and I came up with the Delphos concept to allow creators to just focus on that musical idea by channeling their musical DNA to allow an AI to do their heavy lifting, all while retaining the musical authenticity that makes that creator special.
“We are really excited to hear the new music created on the platform and to demonstrate that there is an alternative to the fair use/licensed content debate. Everyone can make their own Soundworld and keep control over their work and their copyrights.”
Delphos joins a growing number of platforms and tools that leverage AI to transform the music creation process. Among them are Suno and Udio, which are currently facing lawsuits over allegations of mass infringement of copyright in the training of their AI models. These startups are among the AI music generators capable of creating entire songs with just a prompt.
In June, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) coordinated lawsuits on behalf of major recording companies — including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group’s UMG Recordings, and Warner Records Inc. — against the two AI companies. The lawsuits allege “mass infringement of copyrighted sound recordings copied and exploited without permission by two multi-million-dollar music generation services.”
These AI music generators have attracted interest from investors. In May, Suno raised USD $125 million in a Series B funding round, while Udio, developed by former researchers at Google DeepMind, raised $10 million in its seed funding round.
Other companies are developing AI tools that aid in the creation of music, rather than creating music as a whole. For example, TuneCore and UnitedMasters now offer AI-powered music mastering services to artists, both at around $5 per track.Music Business Worldwide