Companies settle copyright infringement litigation and collaborate on groundbreaking new creative product suite
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Oct. 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, and Udio, an AI-powered music creation platform, today announced industry-first strategic agreements, under which the companies settled copyright infringement litigation and will collaborate on an innovative, new commercial music creation, consumption and streaming experience.
In addition to the compensatory legal settlement, the new license agreements for recorded music and publishing will provide further revenue opportunities for UMG artists and songwriters.
The new platform, which will be launched in 2026, will be powered by new cutting-edge generative AI technology that will be trained on authorized and licensed music. The new subscription service will transform the user engagement experience, creating a licensed and protected environment to customize, stream and share music responsibly, on the Udio platform.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled about this collaboration and the opportunity to work alongside UMG to redefine how AI empowers artists and fans,” said Andrew Sanchez, Co-Founder & CEO of Udio. “This moment brings to life everything we’ve been building toward – uniting AI and the music industry in a way that truly champions artists. Together, we’re building the technological and business landscape that will fundamentally expand what’s possible in music creation and engagement.”
Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of UMG said, “These new agreements with Udio demonstrate our commitment to do what’s right by our artists and songwriters, whether that means embracing new technologies, developing new business models, diversifying revenue streams or beyond. We look forward to working with Andrew who shares our belief that together, we can foster a healthy commercial AI ecosystem in which artists, songwriters, music companies and technology companies can all flourish and create incredible experiences for fans.”
Udio’s existing product will remain available to users during the transition period with creations controlled within a walled garden and the service amended in multiple ways—including fingerprinting, filtering, and other measures—before the launch of the updated service.
For years, UMG has played a pioneering role in fostering AI’s enormous potential. UMG is the first company to enter into AI-related agreements with YouTube, TikTok, Meta, KDDI, KLAY Vision, BandLab, Soundlabs and Pro-Rata, among others. Today, UMG and Udio mark the next chapter of innovation between technology companies and rightsholders by working together towards unlocking new capabilities.
Notes to editors:
About Udio
Udio builds extraordinary AI experiences to empower musical artists and super fans. Pairing industry-leading AI technology with groundbreaking partnerships across the music industry, Udio’s mission is to champion musicians and expand how fans engage with their favorite music and artists. Udio is backed by leading lights from tech and music, including a16z, Redpoint, Hanwha, will.i.am, Steve Stoute, Kevin Wall, and many others. For more information, please visit udio.com.
About Universal Music Group
At Universal Music Group, we exist to shape culture through the power of artistry. UMG is the world leader in music-based entertainment, with a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising and audiovisual content. Featuring the most comprehensive catalogue of recordings and songs across every musical genre, UMG identifies and develops artists and produces and distributes the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music in the world. Committed to artistry, innovation and entrepreneurship, UMG fosters the development of services, platforms and business models in order to broaden artistic and commercial opportunities for our artists and create new experiences for fans. For more information on Universal Music Group visit www.universalmusic.com.
About Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG)
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), the global publishing division of Universal Music Group, represents a world-class catalogue of songs inclusive of every genre. Headquartered in Los Angeles, UMPG has 48 offices in 41 countries. The company represents some of the world’s most important songwriters and catalogs. UMPG is also a global leader in Classical & Screen, Christian/Gospel and Production Music. The company is the publisher of choices for film and TV studios, providing creative, sync licensing and administration services for companies including Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount, Disney Europe (and other territories), Viacom, Amazon, HBO, DreamWorks, DreamWorks Animation, Legendary Pictures, Mar Vista Entertainment, NBC and Sesame Workshop, among many others.
SOURCE Universal Music Group
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