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Universal Music Group and Uncharted Labs, the company behind AI platform Udio, have recently reached a settlement. UMG filed the copyright infringement lawsuit in June 2024. Capitol Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Arista Music, Warner Records, and several other offshoots of these big-time entertainment companies also joined. In an industry first, Udio and UMG are forging a partnership to produce a fully licensed AI music platform. According to a press release from UMG, it will be powered by “new cutting-edge generative AI technology that will be trained on authorized and licensed music.” Videos by VICE Launching in 2026, the idea is to be a “new commercial music creation, consumption and streaming experience” that will “provide further revenue opportunities for UMG artists and songwriters.” The release describes the subscription-based platform as a transformative experience for listeners and AI users. Allegedly, it offers “a licensed and protected environment to customize, stream, and share music responsibly.” UMG and Udio Look To Responsible AI Music Creation through Licensing Udio CEO Andrew Sanchez spoke with Billboard about the deal recently. He shared details of what he called a “philosophical alignment” between the companies. Over “many months” of negotiations, Universal Music Group and Udio execs found themselves with similar visions. “The thing that I think is going to be the most extraordinary thing for the music industry in general is when people can do things with their favorite artists and their favorite music,” said Sanchez. He also shared the theory of AI empowering human artists instead of hindering them, stating, “that’s actually going to really expand the market.” He continued, “We believe there’s an incredibly exciting market that combines creation and consumption, both of human-generated songs and of AI-generated songs. We are building a platform that is going to allow you to engage in both of those activities, because that’s where we think the market and users want to go.” Meanwhile, Lucian Grange, CEO of Universal Music Group, said in a press release, “These new agreements with Udio demonstrate our commitment to do what’s right by our artists and songwriters, whether that means embracing new technologies, developing new business models, diversifying revenue streams or beyond.” Photo by VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images
