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October 30, 2025
(FILES) The Universal logo is displayed connected a surface during a Universal Studios peculiar presumption during CinemaCon 2022 astatine Caesars Palace successful Las Vegas, Nevada, connected April 27, 2022. Universal Music Group and Udio, 1 of the starring AI-based euphony start-ups, announced overnight connected October 30, 2025, that they volition motorboat an AI-powered originative level successful 2026, a archetypal successful the industry. (Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP)
Recording manufacture elephantine Universal Music Group said Thursday it had struck a licensing woody with AI euphony procreation startup Udio, successful an industry-first tie-up aiming to motorboat an AI instauration level adjacent year.
Universal and Udio said successful a connection that their platform, arsenic yet unnamed, “will beryllium powered by caller cutting-edge generative AI exertion that volition beryllium trained connected authorized and licensed music”.
They added that they had settled an outstanding copyright infringement case, without specifying the fiscal terms.
The statement comes arsenic artists, from authors to musicians and video crippled developers, fearfulness eventual replacement by AI models trained connected decades of human-produced originative output, portion euphony streaming platforms already study a rising flood of computer-generated songs.
AI firms from manufacture person OpenAI to euphony specialists similar Udio and rival Suno person antecedently been accused by large grounds companies of utilizing their songs to “train” artificial quality models which tin nutrient euphony that apes quality artists.
Rightsholders person demanded stricter limits connected the AI developers’ activities, including transparency connected what root worldly they person utilized and guarantees for their revenue.
Startups were “engaged successful the largest copyright infringement workout that has been seen,” International Confederation of Music Publishers (ICMP) brag John Phelan told AFP past month.
And the Recording Industry Association of America, a US commercialized group, filed a suit successful June 2024 against some Udio and Suno.
By contrast, Thursday’s tie-up showed the mode towards “a steadfast commercialized AI ecosystem successful which artists, songwriters, euphony companies and exertion companies tin each flourish,” UMG main Lucian Grainge said.
Broader talks betwixt euphony companies and tech firms connected however to licence works for AI stay nether way.
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