"We Have Become a Connection Point for Millions of Artists From Around the World"

Ori Winokur, head of the music and sound department at Artlist, does not see artificial intelligence as a threat to video and music creators, but a tool that will help them create more effectively. And that is actually also the story of Artlist itself, a creative and technology company that started as a place where every video editor can enjoy licensed music, and has since become a creative tool through catalogs of sound, video, images and original music. "Our system also knows how to recommend an optimal connection between the catalogs. We are constantly developing and evolving so that every user has quality content," says Winokur.

Artlist began from a personal need of Ira Belsky, one of the founders and currently co-CEO of the company: "It was a big challenge to find quality music, at an affordable price, that video editors could use in their videos. The licenses were complicated, and I sensed that there was a demand here that was not being met."

The difficulty Belsky encountered coincided with a policy change elsewhere – YouTube, which in 2013 was transformed from a place of collaboration and free use to a content identification platform with enormous advertising potential. YouTube's ability to identify content and users and target them, both in terms of music and advertising, led major music labels to demand their share as copyright holders. As a result, millions of pieces of music were blocked, and those affected, among others, were independent video editors who could no longer use the music freely. "Together with two talented musician friends, Assi Ayalon and Eyal Raz, and a friend from the technological side who today serves as co-CEO with me, Itzik Elbaz, we decided to start a website with a catalog of quality pieces of music at an affordable price," he says.

In 2016 Belsky and the musician Assi Ayalon transformed this clear need that arose from the field and created Artlist, which offered a licensed music catalog under an innovative subscription model, essentially eliminating the need for the independent video editor to deal legally with the various creators, managers and labels. "The four friends built a website with a catalog of music, and the need for it was so strong that within two weeks the company was already profitable, and from there it just kept growing at a very fast pace until it became the successful global company it is today," says Winokur.

The AI that helped the creative

What started with the connection between sound and video has developed over the years and has become more essential in a reality where each of us is actually a video editor who can shoot with a smartphone. Artlist offers all types of music at fair prices, and has created another tool where the user can find everything they need in one place.

Artlist reports more than 20 million registered subscribers, including major companies as well as private content creators, who can access everything it offers without limitation: catalogs of music, sound effects, images– visualization, video clips for editors to incorporate in editing, templates as a basis for video editing – which even Justin Timberlake used for his album cover – as well as software and editing tools.

The company, which continues to grow at an accelerated rate, even acquired in 2020 the American company MotionArray, which is a marketplace for video creators, and includes templates, presets, plugins, video transitions, design graphics and graphic animations ready for video editing software. A year later, Artlist also acquired the British software company FXhome, thereby positioning itself alongside companies such as Adobe Global that provide a comprehensive solution that includes editing tools and digital media.

By managing a number of large and leading products, Artlist has become a major player in the field of content creation, with more than 400 employees in Israel and around the world working in creative, technology, content, data, research and development, music, video, marketing and more. The company says that today its customers include influencers and global brands, such as Coca-Cola, Nike, Google, IKEA, Netflix and more.

"For years we've been using AI support to locate and connect content," says Winokur. "We're working on AI features where a creator will write what he's working on and receive suggestions for music, sound effects, images and video. Already today we have a semantic search on the entire catalog, so the system understands what the search request is even if the term is written in a way that does not match how we defined it. Our emphasis is on our artists, on quality content and on a high-level supply so that we will provide a comprehensive solution for anyone who wants to create content."

He adds that artificial intelligence serves creative people who will turn it into a work tool: "Artlist uses AI technology for the benefit of search and further developments. It may change the definitions of editing or the creative process as we know it, but it will also make it possible to stretch boundaries and achieve a different creative level. Also, in using artificial intelligence we will need people to build the basis of the story, and we see it as a useful tool and not one that will damage us."

Paving a way for artists

The way Artlist operates accurately reflects the connection between its founders: Ira Belsky, who was an independent video creator, Itzik Elbaz, who came from the world of technology, Eyal Raz and Assi Ayalon, who were music producers.

A few years ago, the company added another layer to its services to expand the variety of quality content for users, adding original video and music productions under Artlist Original – Artlist's original music production label, which produces more than 2,000 songs a year, and includes independent artists from around the world. The company provides direct support throughout the content production and distribution process. "We have become a connection point for hundreds of independent and active artists from all over the world, and we act as their label, produce the music and manage their rights," says Winokur.

And what does the future hold? Belski shares: "The developments we are planning in the near future – will continue. We want to give creators everything they need to create the best video content, and be a platform for artists to distribute their works and receive adequate remuneration, which allows them to do what they love."

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