Universal Music Group and ElevenLabs launch a licensed AI platform
ElevenLabs' first major-label agreement lets fans remix and reinterpret licensed UMG tracks, with artists compensated on terms neither company disclosed.
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Universal Music Group and ElevenLabs announced a multi-year strategic agreement built around a new licensed AI music creation platform, ElevenLabs’ first deal of this kind with a major label. The platform will let fans make remixes and mashups of licensed UMG tracks, generate new interpretations of songs, and create personalised vocal experiences, alongside further joint audio products the companies did not yet name.
UMG chairman and chief executive Sir Lucian Grainge said “responsible AI can inspire discovery, deepen engagement between artists and fans, and unlock new revenue opportunities for the creative community,” while ElevenLabs chief executive Mati Staniszewski said participating artists and songwriters would be “fairly compensated.” Neither company’s announcement specified an opt-in mechanism for individual artists or a revenue-share percentage.
The deal landed in a week when major labels moved further from litigating AI music generation toward licensing it: a day earlier, Suno relaunched its v6 models on catalogues licensed from Warner, BMG and Believe, following UMG’s own 2025 settlement with Udio. The pattern held mainly for music generation itself; UMG’s publishing arm has taken a different line on text, with Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell suing Anthropic that August over unlicensed lyrics in Claude’s training data, showing labels licensing some AI uses of their catalogues while still litigating others.