Universal and Warner near first licensing deals with tech and AI firms
The agreements could define how music catalogs are licensed for AI training and reshape how artists get paid.
The music industry has circled AI for months, and now it looks like the first big licensing deals may finally be within reach. Universal Music Group and Warner Music, home to stars like Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, and Charli XCX, are reportedly weeks away from agreements that could set the terms for how artists, labels, and AI companies work together.
At the table are some of the biggest names in tech—Google and Spotify—along with AI-native startups like Klay Vision, ElevenLabs, and Stability AI. Noticeably absent are buzzy players like Suno and Udio, who are tied up in copyright disputes with the very labels now defining the rules.
The core issue sounds simple but carries huge consequences: how should music be licensed for AI training and generation? Labels are leaning on the streaming playbook, where every use triggers a micropayment. In practice, that would mean AI firms paying for catalog access up front and then tracking when and how those songs are used to train or inspire machine-made music.
That infrastructure doesn’t exist yet, but if it does, it would give labels unprecedented visibility into how their catalogs fuel AI systems. For Universal and Warner, it’s about protecting the value of their libraries in a world where anyone can generate a convincing imitation.
Emmanuel Umahi
Why does the deal matter for AI companies?
For AI companies, the stakes are just as high. Licensing could mean the difference between legitimacy and legal limbo. Many of the most ambitious players are still in court, accused of exploiting copyrighted music without permission. That uncertainty scares off investors, advertisers, and enterprise clients who want guarantees that the technology they’re buying is legal.
A licensing framework could flip the script overnight, giving startups clean data pipelines to train on and the credibility to expand into mainstream uses like advertising, film scoring, or personalized playlists.
Emmanuel Umahi
But obstacles remain. Some artists remain skeptical about their work being fed into machines at all, regardless of compensation. Others worry that micropayments will echo the economics of streaming, where payouts feel tiny compared to the value generated. And because copyright law differs across regions, even a breakthrough deal between Universal, Warner, and major AI firms won’t automatically set a global standard.
If these deals go through, Universal and Warner will effectively write the first rulebook for AI in music. The 2010s were defined by streaming reshaping how music was distributed and consumed. The 2020s may be defined by licensing reshaping how machines learn to create it.
This time, though, the stakes are higher. Streaming was about access; AI is about authorship. Whoever controls the licensing model will not just decide how artists get paid but will likely shape who gets to train the machines now writing the soundtrack of the future.
