Udio is a generative AI music startup that launched its public beta in April 2024. The company’s mission is to “enable the next generation of music creators with state-of-the-art AI tools,” leveraging AI to democratize music production. Founded in December 2023 in New York by a team of former DeepMind researchers and music tech specialists, Udio began in stealth before unveiling its public platform months later. Udio’s web-based app allows users to generate complete songs from text prompts—including vocals, instrumentation, lyrics, and melody—in under a minute. For example, a prompt like “an upbeat pop song about summer adventures” results in a fully mastered track with realistic vocals and production-level quality. The interface is designed for simplicity, offering users tools like a “Vary” button for regenerating specific sections, inpainting to edit portions of songs, and the ability to sample audio clips such as humming or guitar riffs. Unlike many AI music tools that focus solely on instrumentals, Udio’s standout feature is its vocal synthesis engine. The platform quickly gained popularity among both casual creators and professional musicians. In spring 2024, Udio powered the viral parody track “BBL Drizzy” by producer Metro Boomin—a spoof aimed at the Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake feud—which garnered over 20 million views and millions of streams in just one week. Udio operates on a freemium SaaS model, offering up to 600 free songs per month in beta and planning paid tiers with premium features like longer tracks, advanced editing, and priority processing. The goal is to become the default music creation tool for a new generation of internet-native artists—just as Instagram did for photography. The company raised a $10 million seed round in April 2024 led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from notable investors including Mike Krieger (Instagram), Oriol Vinyals (DeepMind), will.i.am, Common, and Steve Stoute’s UnitedMasters. As demand surged, so did scrutiny. In June 2024, Udio was named in a lawsuit filed by Universal, Sony, and Warner alleging copyright infringement related to AI training data. Udio responded publicly, stating its models are designed to generate entirely new musical compositions—not replicas—and that it uses copyright filters and voice safeguards to ensure originality. The case remains ongoing and is poised to shape future policy for AI-generated content in music. As of 2025, Udio is headquartered in New York City with a small engineering team of 15, and maintains a secondary presence in London. The company continues to grow its creator base, expand product features, and advocate for a future where “millions of people can express themselves through music”—no studio required.