AI Startup Songscription Raises $5M, Aims to "Change Musicians' Lives"

As of November 13th, 2025, the San Francisco-based startup Songscription has raised $5 million in funding to expand its AI-powered music transcription platform. The round was led by previous investor Reach Capital, with additional backing from Emerge Capital, 10x Founders, Dent Capital, and guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, who serves as an advisor to the company.

Songscription's technology can analyze audio recordings and output them as sheet music, tablature, or interactive piano roll formats. The cloud-based platform supports a variety of input formats, including MP3, WAV, and YouTube links. After using AI to analyze the audio, Songscription can generate printable sheet music or files in MIDI, MusicXML, or Guitar Pro formats, which users can then download and edit directly within the platform.

The company claims to have attracted over 150,000 users from more than 150 countries, and the new funding will be used to expand the available instruments and notation outputs supported by the platform. Advisor Bumblefoot, who has an eight-year stint with Guns N' Roses on his résumé, predicts that Songscription "will change musicians' lives" by providing time-saving assistance to both music teachers and players.

While some AI companies have faced legal challenges with music rights holders, Songscription is working to establish partnerships with major publishers and industry players to ensure its service honors all stakeholders. The company's CEO, Andrew Carlins, acknowledges that the licensing requirements are still a "gray area," but the team is proactively approaching publishers to sign deals that will include rights for both the input and output of the transcription process.