Universal Music Group has found a way to work with AI. The music company announced on Thursday a partnership with voice AI firm ElevenLabs, allowing users to draw from its catalog of music — its roster of artists must choose to opt in — to create remixes and new takes on tracks, and to allow artists to develop audio projects. The announcement follows another pivotal music-AI partnership: AI music giant Suno released its first AI music model in partnership with Warner Music and BMG, also allowing users to generate music inspired by participating artists.
Music fans have typically recoiled at AI-created music, and industry executives are working on adopting it so that artists don’t lose money or control of their work. These licensing agreements are not only a way to shift AI music companies from the targets of lawsuits (UMG, Sony and Warner sued Suno in 2024, but Warner dropped out late last year) to paying customers for music, but also a bet that allowing fans to play with the tech may demystify it, and could make some more people open to AI-assisted music down the line.