Music Startup 'Artist Included' Launches to Help Legacy Acts Reclaim Master Rights Using AI

The music industry's relationship with artificial intelligence has largely been defined by fear, lawsuits, and unauthorized deepfakes. But a newly launched Los Angeles-based startup is attempting to flip that narrative, pitching AI not as a threat to musicians, but as a tool for financial liberation.[2]

The company, dubbed "Artist Included," officially launched this week with a provocative mission: helping legacy artists use ethical, consent-based AI to re-record their classic hits and finally claim ownership of their master rights.[3][6]

To prove the concept, the startup partnered with Culture Club frontman Boy George to release a newly recorded, AI-assisted version of the band's 1983 smash hit "Karma Chameleon." The release was timed to coincide with the singer's 65th birthday.[1][5]

The new track is not a synthetic deepfake generated from scratch. According to the company, Boy George performed fresh vocals in the studio. The AI technology—developed by partner Syntiant—was then used to process the audio, capturing the specific tonal qualities and youthful timbre that audiences associate with the original 1983 release.[2][3]

"The goal was never to replace the original—it was to celebrate it and let the song keep evolving for new audiences," Boy George said of the project, noting that revisiting the track was an emotional and creatively inspiring experience.[5][6]

The business case for these AI-assisted re-recordings is rooted in the music industry's notoriously lopsided historical contracts. Many artists from the 1960s through the 2000s signed away the rights to their master recordings in perpetuity, meaning they receive only a fraction of the revenue when their songs are streamed or licensed for commercial use today.[1]

Artist Included co-founder and CEO Paul "PK" Kemsley highlighted a recent $4 million deal to license "Karma Chameleon" for a Virgin Voyages advertising campaign. Because Boy George does not own the master recording of his biggest hit, the master owners received roughly $2 million, while the singer was paid solely an appearance fee.[1]

By creating a new, sonically identical master recording that the artist actually owns, musicians can bypass their old label contracts for lucrative sync licenses in film, television, advertising, and video games.[3]

"For decades, artists created the soundtrack to our lives while much of the long-term value moved away from the original creators," Kemsley explained. He argues that when used responsibly, AI can reverse that dynamic and become one of the most powerful creative tools the industry has ever seen.[2][3]

The startup has attracted significant industry backing, with a leadership team that includes Planet Hollywood founder Robert Earl as chairman, and seed investment from tech venture capitalist Mike Walsh and Red Light Management, one of the world's largest independent artist management firms.[2][6]

The launch arrives at a moment of intensifying debate over the future economics of music. Major players are already experimenting with creator-owned AI models; Universal Music Group recently partnered with SoundLabs to give artists access to vocal plug-ins using their own voice data, while Spotify has explored licensing agreements for AI-powered remixes.[2]

However, the "Artist Included" model has not been universally embraced by listeners. Following the release of the new "Karma Chameleon," some fans took to social media and YouTube to express skepticism, arguing that the original 1983 mix remains sonically superior and questioning the artistic value of using AI to chase past glories.[4]

Critics in online music forums pleaded for legacy artists to release unreleased archival material or entirely new compositions rather than relying on algorithms to artificially recreate their youth.[4]

Despite the purist pushback, the financial incentives for the artists are difficult to ignore. The original "Karma Chameleon" has amassed over 900 million streams on Spotify alone, representing a massive ongoing revenue stream that the new artist-owned master could begin to tap into.[1]

Artist Included says the Boy George release is just the beginning. The company plans to roll out a series of projects with legendary artists in the coming months, offering alternate versions ranging from acoustic and orchestral arrangements to foreign-language adaptations and Dolby Atmos mixes.[3][6]

If successful, the venture could provide a blueprint for how legacy acts can monetize their catalogs in the digital age, shifting the industry conversation from piracy and copyright infringement to partnership and creator control.[3]