Universal, Warner near landmark AI music licensing deals: Report

By Anadolu staff

ISTANBUL (AA) - Major labels Universal Music Group and Warner Music are reportedly close to securing landmark licensing agreements with artificial intelligence (AI) companies, as record labels move to set terms for how AI firms use music, according to a Thursday report by the Financial Times.

The deals, expected to be completed within weeks, would mark a major step in how the music industry responds to the rise of AI-generated music. People familiar with the negotiations said that the agreements may involve AI start-ups such as ElevenLabs, Stability AI, Suno, Udio, and Klay Vision, as well as major technology companies including Google and Spotify.

Universal and Warner represent a number of global superstars including Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Charli XCX, and Coldplay.

The labels are reportedly aiming to establish a payment structure for AI-generated music similar to streaming, where each use triggers a micropayment. They are also seeking new attribution technology, comparable to YouTube’s content ID system, to identify when their music is used in AI models, according to the report.

Executives view the negotiations as a proactive effort to avoid the disruption caused by unlicensed music during the early internet era of the early 2000s, which nearly devastated the industry.

“What’s different is when you take the entire history of music and feed it into a model that produces something unrecognizable,” one senior label executive told the Financial Times. “The question is: are artists going to get on board? It depends on the contract.”

The report notes that AI-generated tracks are increasingly appearing on streaming platforms. French service Deezer said nearly a third of the tracks uploaded to its platform in September were AI-generated. Spotify reported last week that it had removed 75 million “spammy” AI tracks over the past year.