Major labels demand licensing

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Major labels demand licensing deal

Big Three demand fair deals from Suno and Udio

Major labels demand licensing deals. Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment enter active negotiations with generative music platforms Suno and Udio. The goal is to create formal licensing agreements that would allow these AI startups to use copyrighted music to train their models. While ensuring artists and rights holders are fairly compensated.

This marks one of the first major legal and commercial flashpoints between the traditional music industry and the fast-moving world of AI-generated content. It’s a turning point: the moment where streaming-era battles over royalties and IP meet a new wave of machine learning tech that’s raising as many questions as it is eyebrows.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the negotiations are focused on building a new licensing framework. Akin to what labels use with streaming services or sync partners. But unlike Spotify or Apple Music, which play actual copies of copyrighted tracks. AI models use copyrighted music to learn from, without necessarily replicating it verbatim. That legal grey area is exactly what the Big Three are now trying to address head-on.

Generative music is booming—and so are concerns

Suno and Udio have quickly emerged as frontrunners in the generative music space. Both platforms allow users to generate entire songs. From lyrics and melodies to vocals and production. Simply by entering a short prompt. The results can be startlingly realistic. Some users have created tracks that sound indistinguishable from chart-topping pop, emo rap, or lo-fi indie. Others have gone viral by mimicking specific artists’ voices or signature styles.

That’s where the tension starts. The models behind these tools were trained on vast amounts of music data scraped from across the internet—often without explicit permission from rights holders. While neither Suno nor Udio have publicly confirmed what music libraries were used in their training sets, many industry insiders believe major-label recordings likely informed the model weights.

That raises a pivotal question: if AI-generated songs are built on patterns learned from existing catalogues, do the original artists deserve a slice of the value being created?

The three biggest record labels think the answer is yes—and they want legal recognition of that.

A potential blueprint for AI-era licensing

What makes these talks particularly significant is that they may create the first standardized licensing framework for music data used in AI training. Rather than relying on lawsuits and takedown requests after the fact, the labels are attempting to go upstream—ensuring that platforms secure rights before generating content using artist material.

Sources close to the negotiations suggest a few key elements are being discussed:

  • Training licenses, which would allow Suno and Udio to use label catalogues in model development.
  • Royalty frameworks, potentially linked to the amount of training data used, or the performance of generated tracks.
  • Transparency requirements, including audits or model explainability to identify what content influenced AI outputs.

Such a structure could pave the way for new types of music-rights monetization—where even historical or deep catalogue tracks retain economic value by serving as AI “fuel.”

This also fits into a broader strategic push from the labels to reassert control. Universal, for example, pulled its music from TikTok earlier this year in a high-profile clash over licensing terms. Now it’s taking a similarly aggressive stance with AI.

As Major Labels demand AI music licensing and artist control

Musicians themselves are starting to speak up. Some are excited by the possibilities AI opens up for creative collaboration. But many are wary of how their likenesses—particularly voices—can be cloned without consent. In 2023, a viral AI-generated track mimicking Drake and The Weeknd led to takedown requests from Universal and widespread debate over synthetic performances.

At the core of the current tension is a belief among artists that their work is being devalued and decoupled from its original creators. As one music lawyer put it: “AI isn’t just learning from music—it’s learning from somebody’s music. That person should have a say, and a stake.”

New proposals from artist unions include:

  • Artist-controlled opt-in registries, where creators choose whether their music can be used in AI training.
  • Digital watermarking tools, to detect when AI is mimicking a specific voice or songwriting style.
  • Performance royalties for AI-generated songs, especially when they use cloned vocals.

So far, AI companies have largely resisted these ideas, citing technical limitations or open-source precedent. But with the Big Three labels now at the table, that could quickly change.

What AI music licensing means for Suno and Udio

For Suno and Udio, the outcome of these negotiations could be make or break. If they secure deals with the major labels, they could be positioned as the industry’s first fully licensed AI music platforms—offering a legal path forward for both fans and creators. If talks break down, lawsuits could follow, and public scrutiny will likely intensify.

Both companies have raised significant venture capital and are aiming to integrate into the wider creator economy. But that ambition may now hinge on whether they can establish trust with the rights holders whose content gave their models life in the first place.

Final words on AI and music licensing

Whether these talks succeed or stall, they’ve already confirmed one thing: the music industry isn’t staying silent on AI. Major labels are drawing clear lines around compensation, ownership, and consent—and they’re doing it early. What happens next could define the shape of music rights for a generation raised on streaming, but living in the age of synthetic sound.

More on stndby.tv, the ripple effects of AI and artist control are already surfacing elsewhere in the culture. Armand Hammer’s set at 99 Scott in Brooklyn hit with raw urgency earlier this year. Oasis are reasserting legacy in the physical world with a remastered vinyl drop of Time Flies…. And Netsky’s new single ‘Remember’ on Helix Records lands right on the edge of synthetic emotion.

Major labels demand licensing