Music AI company Udio has secured another important licensing deal, with indie label licensing organisation Merlin now on board. The agreement will allow independent labels and distributors within the Merlin membership to participate in the big revamp of Udio, which was first previewed when Universal Music and Warner Music announced their Udio licensing deals last year.
“Independent artists are the driving force of this partnership”, according to Udio CEO Andrew Sanchez, who adds, “by teaming up with Merlin, we’re ensuring they maintain control over their work and are compensated for their creativity”.
“Together”, he continues, “we’re building a platform that gives fans and creators unmatched tools, real power and a deeper connection to the music they love. We’re not just imagining the future of music creation - we’re making sure independent artists are helping us lead it”.
Udio, of course, initially claimed that it didn’t need licences from the music industry in order to train its generative AI model with millions of sound recordings that had it scraped off YouTube. When the three majors and a group of independent artists separately sued for copyright infringement, it insisted that AI training is ‘fair use’ under American law, so no licences were required.
But at the same time as pushing back against the litigation, Udio also started negotiations with rightsholders in the music industry. When announcing today’s deal, Merlin’s brand new CEO Charlie Sexton revealed that the rights organisation has been “engaged in conversations” with Udio “for some time” focussed on “a foundation of consent and fair remuneration”.
“As AI develops, it is critical to Merlin that we work with partners who respect artists, their work and the requirement to license music”, Lexton added. “Our partnership illustrates that Merlin is committed to participating in shaping the opportunities AI promises, rather than simply reacting to its development”.
We already know that Udio is reinventing its music AI platform to address the concerns, and meet the objectives, of the record industry, especially the majors. Opinion is divided as to whether the revamped version of Udio will find much of an audience. But if it does, it’s important that indie labels can be part of that new business model.
Those Merlin members who decide to opt-in to the Udio deal will likely face the same questions from music creator organisations as the majors.
That includes whether labels who agree to license tracks to Udio will obtain the consent of artists and session musicians before opting their music into the Udio deal. How revenue generated from the licensing agreement will be allocated to individual tracks - and how that money will be shared with artists - is also a hot topic of debate.
The majors have so far only committed to seek creator consent when an AI remixes existing songs or replicates a specific performer’s voice, whereas creator groups argue consent should be sought for all uses of music within AI. Which would mean artists could choose to block their music from being used to train any one AI model, especially if they are unhappy with payment terms.
When Merlin did another AI licensing deal with Elevenlabs last year, it’s known that at least some Merlin labels sought more wide-ranging consent from their artists. If that does become the norm within the indie community, it will provide further ammunition for creator groups - including the Music Artists Coalition in the US and the Council Of Music Makers in the UK - in demanding that the majors make similar commitments.