ইউনিভার্সাল মিউজিক ইউডিও মামলা নিষ্পত্তি করে, স্টেবিলিটি এআই-এর সাথে অংশীদাররা ‘পরবর্তী প্রজন্মের সঙ্গীত তৈরির সরঞ্জাম’ বিকাশ করে
Just hours before its third-quarter earnings report on Thursday, Universal Music Group announced it has settled a copyright infringement lawsuit against AI music platform Udio and entered into a strategic partnership with Stability AI to develop “next-generation professional music creation tools.” The announcement comes amid a complex legal battle over whether AI companies can “train” their products on copyrighted music without permission. Last year, the RIAA sued the Udio and Suno platforms on behalf of three major record companies, accusing them of “mass copyright infringement.” Legal action against Suno by Major League Baseball continues. In the Udio announcement, UMG said the two companies “will collaborate to develop a revolutionary new commercial music production, consumption, and streaming experience” that will launch next year. “In addition to a financial settlement, new licensing agreements for recorded music and publishing will deliver increased revenue opportunities for UMG artists and songwriters,” it said. UMG said Udio’s existing platform will remain available for several months before the new product launches. “Grains will be fenced and controlled, and the service will be modified in various ways, including fingerprinting, filtering, and other measures before updated services are released,” allowing users to stream, share, and personalize music within a “licensed and protected environment.” “Our new agreement with Udio demonstrates our commitment to doing what is right for our artists and songwriters, whether that means embracing new technologies, forging new business models, diversifying revenue streams, or more,” said Lucian Grainge, UMG Chairman and CEO. Andrew Sanchez, co-founder and CEO of Udio, added: “We couldn’t be more excited about this collaboration and the opportunity to work with UMG to redefine how AI empowers artists and fans.” In the Stability AI announcement, UMG said the new music creation tool will be “powered by responsibly trained generative AI and built to support the creative processes of artists, producers, and songwriters around the globe.” UMG said these tools will be “powered by responsibly trained generative AI and built to support the creative processes of artists, producers, and songwriters around the globe” and that Stability AI’s research and product teams “will work closely with UMG and its artists to study artist needs and technical approaches for next-generation music creation tools.” As part of this effort, Stability AI will work with UMG’s research and product teams to develop software trained on licensed music catalogs. Crucially, this partnership allows UMG to effectively participate in the creative and development process in an effort to create “fully licensed and commercially safe AI music tools” that “support both artists and rights holders while maintaining the integrity of the art form.” Stability AI is facing multiple copyright infringement lawsuits, including from Getty Images photo service, which claims the company illegally used 12 million images without permission or compensation. Michael Nash, UMG EVP/Chief Digital Officer, said, “This agreement is an extension of our fundamental direction that our artists and songwriters are the foundation of our business. With AI, whatever we do, we start with the best thing – helping them achieve their creative and commercial success and on that basis, we will consider new and better business and we will only consider creative advertising opportunities and we will only consider creative opportunities. AI tools and products based on our trained models.” “Responsibly.” Stability AI CEO Prem Akkaraju said, “UMG has long been at the forefront of technological innovation in music. This partnership marks the next chapter in music creation. At Stability AI, we put artists at the center and build AI on their unique needs. Because true change always comes from the combination of art and science.” UMG has signed similar AI-related deals with YouTube, TikTok, Meta, BandLab, Electronic Arts, and others. Universal Music Group’s third-quarter earnings report will be released Thursday afternoon. The company posted relatively small profits in the second quarter but strong profits for the half-year ending June 30. Publishing recorded year-over-year gains of more than 11% in both divisions. For the overall quarter, UMG recorded €2.98 billion in sales, up 1.6% year-on-year (4.5% in constant currency). In the first half of this year, sales totaled €5.881 billion, up 6.4% year-on-year and 6.9% in constant currency.
প্রকাশিত: 2025-10-30 20:15:00
উৎস: variety.com
