Recommendations of the Editorial team
It’s becoming increasingly clear that major labels are responding to the rise of AI-generated music by embracing and monetizing it – allowing fans to use carefully controlled versions of the technology to create variations on songs owned by the labels. They hope to generate additional income. The latest evidence of this is a just-announced deal between the world’s largest music company, Universal Music Group, and Spotify to “launch a new tool, which allows fans to create covers and remixes of their favorite songs from participating artists and songwriters.”
The strategy, which essentially turns artists’ work into a kind of digital plasticine toy, first became visible at the end of last year: Universal and Warner Music each reached an out-of-court settlement with the AI service Udio and concluded agreements to develop a subscription service with just such song morphing functions. The Spotify deal now brings this model to the most widely used streaming platform – and as with previous announcements, Universal emphasized that artists can decide for themselves whether their songs are part of it.
A launch date for the tool has not yet been set, but according to the announcement it will be a “paid add-on for Spotify Premium subscribers” with proceeds from participating artists and songwriters. Spotify co-CEO Alex Norström said in a statement that the product is based on “consent, recognition and compensation” for all artists and songwriters involved. Universal Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge described the initiative as “consistently artist-centric and rooted in responsible AI.”
Valuable data as a side effect
Udio CEO Andrew Sanchez pointed out to ROLLING STONE 2025 that these deals could also provide valuable data. “Maybe I’m a country singer, but people try to use me for hip-hop,” Sanchez said. “That’s great. Maybe that’s what I want to take up.”
Michael Nash, Universal’s chief digital officer, told ROLLING STONE 2025 that the company’s goal in AI is to “focus the conversation on artists, defend their rights and interests, and develop creative and commercial opportunities from that foundation.” As evidence of the demand for the services the company is building, he pointed to studies showing that much of the music uploaded to social media has been “speeded up, slowed down, mixed together or remixed.”
Artists who choose these models “will have the opportunity to engage with fans on a platform where they have enormous influence over the parameters of that interaction – and then significant economic participation,” he said, “as opposed to the current situation where there is no control and hardly any economic participation.”
Lawsuits against Suno continue
Universal and Sony Music’s copyright lawsuits against the most popular AI music service Suno remain pending. Warner Bros. settled out of court with Suno in November.
