Universal Music Group is collaborating with ElevenLabs on a new AI-powered creation platform

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Universal Music Group and ElevenLabs have announced a new multi-year licensing agreement and "wider strategic collaboration" that will see them launch a new AI-powered licensed music platform.

The deal with UMG is the first that ElevenLabs has cut with a major label, and the new platform will be distinct from its ElevenMusic AI music generation software. The two companies also intend to collaborate on new AI audio products that can be used by artists, UMG wrote in a press release.

The AI creation software, which seemingly doesn't yet have a name, is still in development, and no release date is mentioned. It will primarily be aimed at music fans who want to make remixes and mashups of music from participating and "fairly compensated" artists that are signed to the label. ElevenLabs' tools will also be able to create "new track interpretations and personalized vocal experiences."

The music industry has had a complicated relationship with the emergence of AI. Just a few months ago a coalition of major labels that included UMG issued a collective appeal for AI slop tracks to be banned from charts worldwide, while various legal battles between labels and AI companies like Suno and Udio over accusations of copyright infringement have been well documented in the last few years.

A number of these lawsuits, though, such as one filed by Warner against Udio in 2024, have ultimately ended in settlements and licensing deals being struck. And just this week, Suno said that the launch of its new v6 AI music models marked the formal beginning of its relationships with labels like Warner and BMG.