BandLab Technologies, the Singapore-based music technology group, said on July 15, 2026 that it had acquired Aiode, an Israeli startup that runs an AI-powered music studio built around virtual session musicians.
The companies did not disclose the price. Israeli business daily Calcalist estimated the deal at tens of millions of dollars. Aiode was founded in 2022, has 12 employees and had raised about $7 million, according to Calcalist.
Aiode will keep running as a standalone product with no interruption for existing users. Co-founders Idan Dobrecki and Blue Dobrecky stay on as chief executive and chief operating officer, and Aiode's existing partnerships with musicians and its licensing agreements remain in place.
What Aiode built
Aiode lets people make music with audio-to-audio AI models developed together with professional session musicians and producers. A user can start a project from nothing or upload their own audio, then pick virtual musicians and style models from a library and tell each one what role to play.
Users can create alternative versions of parts of a song, change individual elements and export the result either as separate tracks or as a full mix, Calcalist reported.
The company's main selling point is how it trains its models. Aiode says all of the audio used to train them is licensed and can be traced back to its source, and that models based on specific musicians are built with those artists. Musicians share in the value their work helps to create.
“What sets Aiode apart is that it was made hand in hand with musicians, who share in the value their work helps create. That makes Aiode a natural fit for BandLab Technologies. We believe responsible technology and a product creators actually want to use should go together.”
Why BandLab is buying
BandLab Technologies is a division of Caldecott Music Group. It runs the BandLab app and the Cakewalk recording software, and also owns the artist services site ReverbNation and the beat marketplace Airbit. Aiode becomes its third platform for making music, alongside BandLab and Cakewalk.
Drew Silverstein, senior adviser for AI, innovation and strategy at BandLab Technologies, said Aiode stood out because it had been built together with musicians who share in the value they help create. He said the company believed responsible technology and a product creators actually want to use should go together.
BandLab said future versions of Aiode will add native audio recording and more features of a digital audio workstation, with details to come. It has not said whether Aiode will be built into BandLab's other products.
The founders and the funding
Dobrecki said Aiode had worked side by side with professional musicians since it was founded, aiming to respect their artistry and keep them involved in how their musical identity is represented. He said BandLab Technologies would let the company take that approach to more creators.
Dobrecky said joining a group that understood both easy-to-use music creation and professional production was a rare fit, and that BandLab's experience gave Aiode a broader base for growth as the ways people make music change.
Aiode's backers include the Israeli funds Horizon Capital and Atooro fund, along with Regah Ventures and Mindset Music Ventures from outside Israel, according to Calcalist. The size and timing of individual rounds were not reported.
Licensed AI and BandLab's strategy
Aiode's pitch rests on where its training data comes from. Calcalist described its models as built from licensed recordings by professional musicians to reproduce instruments and playing styles, while keeping those artists involved in the process. The company says every clip used for training is fully licensed and traceable.
That approach matches the way BandLab Technologies has talked about AI. Music Week has reported that the group formed a strategic relationship with Universal Music Group on AI to support artists, and that it recently named Ivan Chen as chief executive, with founder Meng Ru Kuok moving to executive chairman.
For BandLab, the deal adds an AI tool that lets creators add virtual players to their songs. For Aiode, it brings the backing of a larger group that already runs several music platforms, while the founders keep running the product day to day.
