The Wall Street Journal

Universal, Warner and Sony Are Negotiating AI Licensing Rights for Music

The talks with AI startups concern how the labels—and their artists—would get paid for music’s use in generative AI models

Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift Photo: jennifer gauthier/Reuters

Major music companies are negotiating licensing deals with two startups that could set a new precedent for how songs are used and artists are paid for remixes generated by artificial intelligence.

Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music Group want to be compensated by startups Suno and Udio when music by artists they represent is used to train generative AI models and produce new music, according to people familiar with the talks.

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