Spotify and Universal Music strike deal allowing fan-made AI covers and remixes

Watch out, Suno. Spotify on Thursday announced it has partnered with Universal Music Group (UMG) to allow fans to use generative AI technology to create covers and remixes of their favorite songs. The tool will launch as a paid add-on available only to Spotify’s Premium subscribers and will offer a revenue share with participating artists for the AI-generated music based on their work.

The company did not share pricing or a launch date for the new tool, only that the two companies had come to a licensing agreement. However, Spotify had teased its plans last year, noting that it was working with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group, Merlin, and Believe to develop artist-first AI products.

The AI tools would be created through “upfront agreements, not by asking for forgiveness later,” Spotify said at the time, an obvious swipe at other players in the space, like Suno.

Among the principles Spotify outlined: artists and rightsholders should be able to choose if and how they participate in AI tools, and if they do, they should be fairly compensated.

“Solving hard problems for music is what Spotify does, and fan-made covers and remixes are next. What we’re building is grounded in consent, credit, and compensation for the artists and songwriters that take part,” said Spotify co-CEO Alex Norström, in a statement about the UMG agreement. “Through each technological transformation, we have worked together with Sir Lucian [Chairman & CEO, Universal Music Group] and his team to evolve the music ecosystem into a richer, more beneficial experience for fans and a more rewarding outcome for artists and songwriters.”

UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge, meanwhile, touted the development as a way for artists to deepen their fan relationships while also creating additional revenue opportunities. There’s no word yet on which UMG artists have agreed to participate.

While services like Suno and Udio have been pioneers in the AI music space, they moved forward on shaky legal ground when building their AI music-making tools. Unsurprisingly, the major labels quickly sued. In November, Suno ended up settling a $500 million lawsuit with Warner Music Group, which came shortly after Universal Music Group (UMG) had settled its own suit with Udio.

Today, Suno is still facing copyright claims from UMG and Sony Music, among others. Udio, meanwhile, has settled with Warner Music and UMG, but is still working to settle with Sony.

Seeing demand for this type of activity from consumers, Spotify went straight to the labels for a deal of its own. UMG may be the first of many label partnerships to come, though the company didn’t outright say so.

The news was shared amid a slew of Investor Day announcements from Spotify on Thursday, which also included an AI-powered audiobook creation tool, AI-powered features for podcasters, a desktop app to produce personal podcasts via AI, and reserved concert tickets for top fans.

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