New licensing deal highlights the growing trend of media giants embracing AI : NPR

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

The world’s largest music company is getting cozy with a major AI music creation platform. The licensing deal is between Universal Music Group and a company called Udio. It’s part of a growing trend among media giants to embrace the commercial and creative potential of artificial intelligence. NPR’s Chloe Veltman is here to explain. Hey, Chloe.

CHLOE VELTMAN, BYLINE: Hey there, Scott.

DETROW: So how’d this deal come about?

VELTMAN: Well, it started in conflict. Universal alleged in a lawsuit last year that Udio committed piracy by training its tech on Universal’s enormous holdings of copyrighted songs. The two entities recently settled, and now they plan to collaborate.

DETROW: There we are. What’s it going to look like?

VELTMAN: Universal and Udio say they’re going to launch a subscription service in 2026. And the idea is to create these new revenue streams for artists and songwriters. It’s going to use AI models that are trained only on authorized and licensed music from Universal’s catalog to allow users to do things like customize, stream and share music on Udio’s platform. Also, Universal told NPR, this service is strictly an opt-in for talent. In other words, artists can decline to have their works included in this.

And there are similar deals, Scott, emerging elsewhere in the music space. It’s a bit of a trend. Spotify has cut AI licensing deals with Sony, Universal and Warner, among others. And Universal has similar collaborations in the works with a bunch of companies, including the AI music research lab SoundPatrol.

DETROW: How is the creative industry reacting to this?

VELTMAN: Well, I spoke with Keith Kupferschmid. He’s the CEO of the Copyright Alliance, and they’re an important industry group representing the interests of copyright owners, like authors and songwriters. He tells me there are at least 50 copyright infringement lawsuits going on right now between AI companies and entertainment industry players, including Universal, Sony and Warner’s litigation against Udio’s competitor, Suno. And against this backdrop, Kupferschmid called the Universal-Udio deal, in particular, a game changer.

KEITH KUPFERSCHMID: It shows that the AI companies can work with the creative community to come up with models that work for both of them, where they both make money, and they’re both successful.

VELTMAN: But not all parts of the creative community, Scott, are as gung-ho about this development.

DETROW: Right, I mean, a lot of creative people see this as an existential threat. We had hundreds of musicians signing on letters opposing the unauthorized training of AI models on their work. Recently, how are artists responding?

VELTMAN: Well, the Music Artists Coalition – that’s a nonprofit representing music creators – cautiously welcomed the Universal-Udio deal, but it also raised questions about artists’ ability to control how the AI will be used and how the revenue will be shared.

DETROW: What do you think is prompting this shift toward partnerships?

VELTMAN: Well, we’ve seen quite a few licensing deals emerge in the media space in recent years, Scott – for example, OpenAI’s licensing partnerships with the Financial Times, the Associated Press and other news entities. The more recent surge of deals in the entertainment space is happening not just because there’s money to be made. I spoke with Cris Valenzuela, the co-founder and CEO of Runway, which produces an annual AI film festival, among other things.

CRIS VALENZUELA: The models are working really well, and, like, they can do this stuff. Maybe two years ago, it felt more like, this is, like, a long bed, like, a moonshot, like, we’re going to take our time.

VELTMAN: Yeah, so in short, Valenzuela is saying the tech is getting to a point where it can make things that fans actually really want – yeah, like, for example, being able to make mashups of or create new lyrics to their favorite songs.

DETROW: NPR’s Chloe Veltman. Chloe, always good to talk to you. Thanks so much.

VELTMAN: Thanks so much, Scott.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

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