Boy George Launches 'Artist Included', an AI Startup Aiming to Help Legacy Musicians Reclaim Their Masters

The music industry’s relationship with artificial intelligence has largely been defined by fear, lawsuits, and unauthorized deepfakes. But a newly launched startup is attempting to flip the narrative, pitching AI as a tool for financial liberation rather than exploitation.[1][2]

"Artist Included," a Los Angeles-based music technology company, officially launched this week with a provocative mission: using AI to help legacy musicians reclaim ownership of their classic catalogs.[2][4]

The company was co-founded by entrepreneur Paul "PK" Kemsley and entertainment attorney Jeremy Rosen, with Culture Club frontman Boy George serving as a marquee collaborator and creative director.[1][2]

To demonstrate the model, Artist Included released a newly recorded version of Culture Club’s 1983 global smash "Karma Chameleon," timed to coincide with Boy George’s 65th birthday.[2][4]

The process relies on what the company calls "artist-approved" and "ethical" voice AI. Rather than generating a synthetic track from scratch, Boy George performed new vocals in the studio.[4][6]

The AI platform—developed by Irvine, California-based tech partner Syntiant—was then used to process the new performance. The software captures the specific tonal qualities and youthful timbre that audiences associate with the original 1980s recording, blending the artist's current performance with their historic sound.[5][6]

The business mechanism behind the technology is where the true disruption lies. By creating a new, sonically identical or enhanced master recording, artists can bypass the original master rights typically held by major record labels.[1][4]

This allows heritage acts from the 1960s through the 2000s to own their new masters outright, unlocking fresh commercial opportunities across streaming, film and TV syncs, advertising, and video games.[2][6]

Seed investors in the venture include major players from both Silicon Valley and the music establishment, such as Structure Capital founding partner Mike Walsh—an early investor in Uber and Salesforce—and Red Light Management, one of the world's largest independent artist management firms.[2]

The launch arrives at a critical inflection point for music economics. For decades, artists signed away their master rights in perpetuity in exchange for upfront advances and distribution, leaving them with fraction-of-a-penny streaming royalties while their labels reaped the long-term value.[2][4]

While Taylor Swift famously re-recorded her early albums to regain control of her masters, that strategy requires massive capital, studio time, and a rabid fanbase willing to stream the new versions over the originals. Artist Included is betting that AI can democratize this reclamation process for a much wider array of legacy acts.[3]

Skeptics, however, question whether fans will actually embrace AI-assisted re-recordings. Music critics note that while the technology might be impressive, listeners often prefer the original tracks they grew up with, complete with their analog imperfections.[3]

Yet the commercial applications for sync licensing—where ad agencies and film supervisors need high-quality, easily clearable tracks—could prove highly lucrative, even if everyday fans stick to the originals on Spotify. When an artist owns the master, they can approve a lucrative commercial placement instantly, without needing a label's sign-off.[1][2]

The startup's founders emphasize that their model is built entirely on consent, transparency, and rights clearance. By bringing artists into the cap table and giving them control over how their voice models are used, the company hopes to shift the industry paradigm from piracy to partnership.[4][6]

For Boy George, the project represents a deliberate act of reclamation. The goal was never to replace the original, he noted, adding that the technology allows a song he once couldn't control to keep evolving for new audiences.[1][2]