Stability AI raises $76M Series B with Universal, Sony and Warner as investors and licensors, completing its pivot to music tools
On Aug 25, 2026 Stability AI closed a $76M Series B whose investors include all three major record labels (Universal, Sony, Warner), which also licensed their catalogs for training, plus Electronic Arts and AMD Ventures. It was the first AI company with equity from all the majors. Under CEO Prem Akkaraju and investor-chairman Sean Parker, Stability has refocused from image models to licensed music tools (Stable Audio 3.0, a DAW plugin); an Oct 2026 TechCrunch/The Information profile cast it as Parker "playing by the rules this time".
Key facts
- Series B: $76M, announced Aug 25, 2026; total raised since Akkaraju became CEO in 2024: $232M (Music Business Worldwide)
- Investors: Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group, Electronic Arts, AMD Ventures, Pacific Alliance Ventures; returning Coatue, Greycroft, Kadmos Capital, Sean Parker, Eric Schmidt; Coatue's Thomas Laffont joins the board
- The three majors licensed their catalogs as part of the deal (TechCrunch); UMG and Warner had strategic alliances with Stability since Oct and Nov 2025
- Products: Stable Audio 3.0 open-weight/licensed model family (May 2026), DAW plugin for Ableton/Logic (Aug 18, 2026), StableAudio.com; three audio models and music-editing software released in total
- Parker (Oct 2026): an update will let users 'hum a melody or beatbox a drum pattern to steer it'; he says he is 'playing by the rules this time', a nod to Napster
- Contrast: the same labels sued Suno and Udio in 2024; Tech Times noted labels get equity while artists get nothing directly
What happened
Stability AI, the Stable Diffusion maker that nearly collapsed in 2024 after founder Emad Mostaque's exit, raised a $76M Series B on Aug 25, 2026. Universal, Sony and Warner invested and licensed their catalogs for training. The round followed Stable Audio 3.0 (May 2026) and its DAW plugin (Aug 18). In early October, a TechCrunch piece and a paywalled profile in The Information (written from summaries here) described Sean Parker, who joined the 2024 $80M rescue, and CEO Prem Akkaraju as rebuilding Stability around tools for music professionals.
Why it matters
It is the clearest example of the "licensed" model for AI music: labels hold equity in a generator instead of suing it, as they did with Suno and Udio before their settlements.
Changelog
- 2026-10-05: created from the Oct 2026 Information/TechCrunch profiles (sweep); funding details from MBW and Billboard
People
Emad Mostaque Eric Schmidt Prem Akkaraju Sean Parker
Related events
Sources (6)
- pressMusic Business Worldwide: Universal, Sony, Warner join $76M funding round in Stability AI
- pressBillboard: Stability AI's new $76M funding round is backed by Universal, Sony and Warner
- pressTechCrunch: Sean Parker is rebuilding Stability AI around music (Oct 2, 2026)
- pressThe Information: Sean Parker spreads the gospel of AI music (Oct 2026, paywalled)
- pressTech Times: Stability AI raises $76M: music labels get equity; artists still get nothing
- officialStability AI: Meet Stable Audio 3
id: 2026-08-25-stability-ai-76m-series-b-major-labels · updated 2026-10-05 · open in the interactive timeline