MAIA Universe

MAIA Universe is a Swedish music technology company that operates a platform for music synchronization and licensing. Formerly known as Freshsound, the Stockholm-based startup aims to streamline the process of licensing commercially released music for use in advertisements, television, film, games, and social media content. The platform connects rights holders—such as artists, songwriters, publishers, and record labels—with content creators, including directors, filmmakers, and advertisers, who need to license music for their projects.

The company was founded in 2020 and is led by CEO David Wille. MAIA Universe's key feature is providing rights holders with full control over pricing, restrictions, and licensing conditions, while offering a self-service checkout and transparent pricing for music buyers. Its smart search engine allows users to find music based on criteria like mood, genre, lyrics, and even audience demographics. The business model is commission-free for rights holders, who keep 100% of the sync fee; instead, a platform fee is charged to the music buyers.

As of May 2025, the platform featured over 9,000 songs from more than 2,200 artists and 300 labels and publishers. MAIA Universe has secured licensing agreements with major industry players like Sony Music UK, Sony Music Publishing UK, and Warner Chappell Music Publishing. The company has raised approximately $4.7 million in funding, with a notable investment round of €1 million ($1.13 million) in May 2025. Investors include Zenith Ventures, Aligned Ventures, and acclaimed producer Max Martin through his company MxM.

Keywords: music licensing, sync platform, commercial music, synchronization rights, music for film, music for advertising, content creators, rights holders, David Wille, Freshsound, music technology, sync licensing, media projects, artist empowerment, brand partnerships, music supervision, song licensing, digital music