Universal Music and Udio have settled their legal differences and announced new ‘strategic agreements’ that will involve the creation of a new AI music creation platform.
UMG had sued the AI platform over copyright infringement, in their own words, “on an almost unimaginable scale" that could “threaten enduring and irreparable harm to recording artists, record labels, and the music industry.” But all that seems to be resolved now, though neither party has made any mention of the amount of money that Udio must have surely paid to make the lawsuit magically disappear.
Instead, in a statement, UMG is promising that there will be new license agreements for recorded music and publishing, which they are saying will provide “further revenue opportunities for UMG artists and songwriters”.
The promised new AI platform, still under the Udio name, will be launched next year and trained only on authorised and licensed music. The devil, of course, will be in the detail of this – the big question is whether artists will be fairly compensated for the privilege of having their music scraped.
For the moment, the current Udio platform is still online and will be available to use throughout the transition period, though with some amendments - including fingerprinting, filtering, and other measures - before the new service launches in 2026.
Anyway, UMG seemed pleased with the outcome. CEO Sir Lucian Grainge said in a statement: “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.
"We look forward to working with Andrew who shares our belief that together, we can foster a healthy commercial AI ecosystem in which artists, songwriters, music companies and technology companies can all flourish and create incredible experiences for fans.”
“We couldn’t be more thrilled about this collaboration and the opportunity to work alongside UMG to redefine how AI empowers artists and fans,” said Andrew Sanchez, Co-Founder & CEO of Udio. “This moment brings to life everything we’ve been building toward – uniting AI and the music industry in a way that truly champions artists. Together, we’re building the technological and business landscape that will fundamentally expand what’s possible in music creation and engagement.”
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