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Udio’s licensing woody with Universal Music Group (UMG) has prompted backlash from users aggravated that the AI level abruptly disabled downloading — and immoderate are already floating the thought of ineligible action.
The landmark deal, announced connected Wednesday (Oct. 29), ends UMG’s engagement successful copyright litigation against Udio and lays the groundwork for a caller mentation of the level trained connected licensed music. The catch: Udio volition present beryllium a “walled garden” successful which users tin lone watercourse their AI creations connected the platform, with nary quality to export and administer their works.
While this caller mentation of Udio isn’t launching until 2026, the institution instantly disabled each downloading connected Wednesday — a determination that has galore users up successful arms, particularly connected the r/udiomusic Reddit page.
“This feels similar an implicit betrayal,” wrote 1 Reddit user.
“I’ve spent hundreds of $$$ and countless hours gathering tracks with this tool,” wrote another. “No 1 warned america that 1 day, we wouldn’t adjacent beryllium capable to entree our ain music. You can’t conscionable propulsion the plug and telephone that a ‘transition.’”
Udio offers some monthly and yearly subscription plans. A Standard program costs either $10 per period oregon $96 billed annually, and a Pro program comes retired to either $30 per period oregon $288 a year.
One unlucky Reddit idiosyncratic commented connected Thursday (Oct. 30) that they paid for an yearly subscription the time that Udio announced the UMG woody and took distant download capabilities.
“I’m perfectly livid,” the idiosyncratic wrote. “The sole crushed I paid for the work was to nutrient euphony to soundtrack abbreviated films for the students successful my precocious schoolhouse media class. Now nary downloads?? This is the worst and astir disgusting fraud I person ever seen. I don’t adjacent attraction astir the music, I conscionable privation my money.”
In a connection to Billboard on Thursday, an Udio spokesperson said that disabling downloads is “a hard but indispensable measurement to enactment the adjacent signifier of the level and the caller experiences ahead.”
“We hatred having to region this functionality and did not marque the determination lightly,” said the spokesperson. “To easiness the transition, Udio is adding 1,200 credits to each Pro and Standard plans, expanding the Pro plan’s opus instauration bounds to 10, and providing each subscribers with a one-time bonus of 1,000 non-expiring credits.”
On Reddit, Udio users are already chatting astir imaginable recourse. Some comments accidental disgruntled users should inquire Udio straight for refunds, portion others suggest that individuals who’ve precocious bought subscriptions interaction their banks to cancel the charges.
Elsewhere connected the Reddit page, arsenic good arsenic connected different societal media platforms similar LinkedIn, users are floating the thought of litigation.
“What you person committed is fraud. Just truthful you understand,” wrote 1 user. “You whitethorn not consciousness immoderate ineligible ramifications immediately, but not everyone who utilized your level is without resources.”
Numerous accounts person been posting Udio’s presumption of work and encouraging others to nonstop emails to the institution formally opting retired of provisions that could bounds their ineligible options — namely, a clause requiring that each claims beryllium brought successful private, idiosyncratic arbitration alternatively than successful nationalist tribunal arsenic a people action.
While Udio’s presumption of work bash so let users to opt retired of mandatory arbitration, opt-out notices indispensable beryllium sent wrong 30 days of registering for the service. “Otherwise, you shall beryllium bound to arbitrate disputes connected a non-class ground successful accordance with these terms,” the good people reads.
Whether yet brought successful arbitration oregon successful a courthouse, determination are a fig of imaginable ineligible claims that disgruntled Udio users mightiness assert. There could beryllium arguments made that disabling downloads constituted a breach of the subscription declaration that Udio signed with users, oregon that Udio falsely advertised its services successful usurpation of user extortion laws. Just past year, Amazon Prime users brought specified claims implicit changes to the outgo of ad-free movie and TV streaming for subscribers.
Whether specified ineligible claims could really beryllium successful, however, would beryllium connected a judge&rs...
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