Sonilo and Musical AI Partner to Ensure AI Music Empowers Creators and Rewards Rights Holders

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Sonilo, the generative audio company building video-native music and sound models, announced on October 27 a partnership with Musical AI, a leading AI music attribution and rights management technology, to address one of the music industry's biggest challenges of ensuring that artists, songwriters, and rights holders are attributed as AI-generated music becomes increasingly mainstream.

The partnership comes as the music industry grapples with how copyrighted works are used to train AI models and how creators should be compensated when their music contributes to AI-generated outputs. While licensing agreements establish permission to use music, identifying how individual recordings and compositions influence what AI generates remains a significant challenge. Together, Sonilo and Musical AI aim to demonstrate a model for generative music where licensing, attribution, and compensation are built into the process from the start.

Sonilo generates music and sound effects directly from video footage, text, or both, using models built around licensed source material. Through the partnership, Musical AI's technology will analyze Sonilo's generated outputs and measure how licensed recordings and compositions contributed to each one. That reporting will give Sonilo's licensing partners the data needed to account for usage and support compensation for the songwriters, artists, and rights holders behind the original music. As generative technology makes it possible to create entirely new compositions influenced by existing works, the ability to identify and measure those contributions will become increasingly important to building sustainable relationships between AI companies and the music industry.

"The future of AI music can't be built at the expense of the people who created the music that makes it possible," said Keli Li, COO and Co-Founder of Sonilo. "The industry needs a better way to connect AI-generated music back to the artists and rights holders whose work contributed to it. We're building Sonilo around licensed music from the start, and our partnership with Musical AI is an important step toward building an AI music ecosystem that empowers creators while ensuring rights holders share in the value."

"AI music has enormous potential, but that potential depends on building a system that respects the creators behind it," said Sean Power, CEO of Musical AI. "Sonilo recognizes that licensing is only part of the equation. Rights holders also need visibility into how their work contributes to generated music. Together, we're helping demonstrate how attribution can support a more transparent and sustainable model for the industry."

The partnership comes as Sonilo finalizes master recording and publishing agreements with major rights organizations and prepares to launch its new music model update. Sonilo aims to demonstrate how the next generation of AI music platforms can create new opportunities for creators while protecting the value of the original works that make AI-generated music possible.

About Sonilo

Sonilo builds video-native generative audio models for creators, developers, and media platforms. Its technology generates music and sound effects directly from footage or text, creating soundtracks built for each video's story rather than pulled from a library. Sonilo is building a future where every video can have its own soundtrack, because when music truly fits a story, people don't just watch. They feel. Sonilo is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by B Capital. Learn more at sonilo.com.

About Musical AI

Musical AI is a Canadian rights technology company providing consent management and attribution infrastructure for generative music. Its platform helps rights holders manage permissions and identify how licensed works influence AI-generated outputs across composition and sound recording rights, supporting transparent reporting, licensing, and compensation.

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Sonilo and Musical AI Partner to Ensure AI Music Empowers Creators and Rewards Rights Holders

SHENZHEN, China, Oct. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from Chinadailyhk.com

A photo exhibition on cultural and people-to-people exchanges in Asia opened in South China's Shenzhen on Monday, ahead of the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, which the city is hosting next month.

Co-organized by China Daily and the Asia News Network, the Changing Asia exhibition runs through Friday at the Shenzhen Research Institute of the Chinese University of Hong Kong under the theme "Moments of Connection: Smiles and Hands Across Asia-Pacific".

In her welcoming remarks, Liu Weiling, deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily, said the exhibition is an important cultural exchange event during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation's "China Year" and aligns with this year's theme, "Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together".

"We look forward to using the lens as a medium to capture the warm moments of Asia-Pacific people working hand-in-hand and civilizations integrating with each other, vividly showcasing the moving picture of Asia-Pacific peoples united in solidarity and embracing inclusiveness and shared prosperity," Liu said.

Warner Cheuk Wing-hing, Hong Kong's deputy chief secretary for administration, said at the opening that the photographs document the Asia-Pacific's cultural landscape and development stories without relying on words.

The exhibition highlights the core spirit of this year's APEC and offers visitors a glimpse of the region's growing mutual understanding and connection, as well as achievements in inclusive, shared development, he said.

The edition received more than 2,200 entries from 330 photographers worldwide. After a rigorous selection process, 97 works by 54 photographers from 17 countries and regions were chosen to capture the "smiles" and "hands" of Asia-Pacific people and portray a shared future of inclusive prosperity.

"Photography has the extraordinary ability to bring seemingly distant worlds closer together, creating a silent dialogue between the people portrayed and those viewing the images," Emanuele Giacomini, a documentary photographer based in Italy, told China Daily.

A set of photos Giacomini took at the 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, India, was selected for the exhibition. The festival was inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2017.

Giacomini said the exhibition's theme reflects his approach to documentary photography: seeking human connections, spontaneous gestures and emotions that transcend cultural and religious differences.

At the exhibition's launch, Bill Condon, an adviser to think tank Our Hong Kong Foundation, praised the quality and diversity of the photos. "It is really important to show and utilize the soft power of culture and art," he said. "The exhibition's Asian focus makes it so much more relevant and creates an opportunity for dialogue outside the formal meetings."

Nay Min Thu, a Myanmar student at Prince of Songkla University in Thailand, said he was impressed by the stories behind the photographs, particularly Shirkoo Mamagha's images capturing peaceful moments of nomadic communities in Iran. "I have learned that we should take photos that contain stories," said Thu, an amateur photographer.

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Changing Asia expo opens in Shenzhen