Universal Music Group said Wednesday it has reached licensing agreements with artificial intelligence music startup Udiosettling a lawsuit that accused Udio of using copyrighted music to train its AI.
Users create music using Udio's artificial intelligence, which can compose original songs, including voices and instruments, from text prompts.
Udio has agreed with UMG to launch a new platform next year that is only for “authorized and licensed music” and will allow users to customize, stream and share music.
“These new agreements with Udio demonstrate our commitment to doing right by our artists and songwriters, whether that means introducing new technologies, developing new business models, diversifying revenue streams or anything else,” Lucian Grainge, chairman and chief executive of UMG, said in a statement.
Udio declined to disclose the financial terms of the settlement and licensing agreements. UMG did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the terms.
Artificial intelligence has brought new opportunities and challenges for the entertainment industry as artificial intelligence startups train their models on information online, which entertainment companies say infringes on their copyrighted work.
In the music industry, the music business has accused New York-based Udio and other artificial intelligence music startups of teaching copyrighted music to create new songs based on popular hits without compensation or permission.
UMG, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and other music companies. sued Udio last year. The lawsuit accused Oudio of using hits like “My Girl” by The Temptations to create a similar tune called “Sunshine Melody.” UMG owns the copyright to “My Girl”.
“A comparison of one section of the file generated by Udio and 'My Girl' reflects a number of similarities, including a very similar melody, similar chords, and very similar background vocals,” the lawsuit states. “These similarities are further reflected in the parallel score transcriptions for the Udio file and the original recording.”
Udio reports this on its website. at that time that it sticks to its technology and that its artificial intelligence model learns from examples, much like students listen to music and study scores.
“The goal of model learning is to develop an understanding of musical ideas—the basic building blocks of musical expression that belong to no one,” Oudio said in a statement. “We have absolutely no interest in replicating the content in our training set.”
On Wednesday, Udio CEO and co-founder Andrew Sanchez said he was thrilled to be working with UMG “to redefine how artificial intelligence empowers artists and fans.”
This collaboration marks the first music licensing agreement Udio has entered into with a major music label.
“This moment embodies everything we’ve been committed to—bringing together artificial intelligence and the music industry in a way that truly supports artists,” Sanchez said in a statement. “Together, we are creating a technology and business landscape that will fundamentally expand the ability to create and interact with music.”
Udio said artists can sign up for the new platform and receive compensation, but declined to go into detail or about the artists involved.
Udio, launched in 2024, was founded by former Google DeepMind employees. Udio sponsors include music artist will.i.amInstagram co-founder and Anthropic chief product officer Mike Krieger and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
Udio said millions of people have used Udio since its launch in 2024. Users can access the platform through the app or website. The company did not say how many downloads or users the website has.
New York-based mobile analytics company Appfigures estimates that Udio has been downloaded 128,000 times on the Apple App Store since its release.
On Thursday, UMG also announced a partnership with London-based Stability AI to develop artificial intelligence-powered music creation tools for artists, producers and songwriters.
