Salt Receives $1.44 Million Grant from Innovate UK — With AI-Driven Royalty Solutions a Big Focus

Digital Products Salt, the company that provides digital-era rights and royalties solutions for music creators and societies around the world, has announced a £1.1 million pound ($1.44 million) grant from Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The funding accelerates Salt’s investment in AI innovation, further advancing tools designed to empower and safeguard music creators and rights holders. Salt is releasing powerful new AI-enhanced capabilities that can be used across its entire product line, fortifying support for creators at every stage of their journey — from inception through distribution to fair compensation.

According to details shared with DMN, the grant provided by Innovate UK will help unlock operational efficiencies within the industry, with Salt aiming to position itself as a leader in AI-driven rights holder-centric solutions in the music sector. Salt also announced that it is partnering with Queen Mary University for this groundbreaking project, leveraging their renowned expertise in AI and digital music.

A source close to the deal tells Digital Music News that some of the capital from this grant will go to Queen Mary University as part of this partnership. Earlier, the grant was only described as ‘multi-million pound,’ though sources further specified the funding amounts in question.

“Salt is excited to be at the forefront of AI Innovation and the evolution of next-generation tools for the music industry’s creators and rights holders,” says Salt CEO Doug Imrie. “We are delighted to have the experts at Queen Mary University join our mission to ensure that creators’ contributions, rights, accreditation and remuneration are protected across the music industry and benefit from the latest technological advances.”

Simon Dixon, Director of the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI & Music at Queen Mary University of London continues: “Our Centre for Digital Music has grown into a world-leading, multidisciplinary research group, responsible for numerous spinout companies and business partnerships with companies large and small. Industry partnerships like these allow us to achieve more real-world impact from our research and give companies access to researchers working at the very edge of what’s possible.”