Universal Music and ElevenLabs Strike AI Music Platform Deal

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Universal Music Group announced on Thursday a multiyear licensing agreement with ElevenLabs to build an AI-powered music platform that will let users create remixes, mashups, and new versions of songs drawn from UMG’s licensed catalog.

Artist participation in the platform is optional - UMG says creators can choose whether to make their work available. ElevenLabs CEO Mati Staniszewski described the rationale in the press release:

“By combining UMG’s global community and rights management expertise, with our AI models and products, we’ll enable artists and songwriters to create powerful new experiences for their fans, and ensure they are fairly compensated.”

The partnership goes beyond the initial platform launch. The two companies say it will also cover the “development of additional products and fan experiences in the months and years to come,” though neither the press release nor UMG provided further details on what those products might be. The new platform will operate separately from ElevenLabs’ existing Music API and ElevenMusic generator.

UMG’s expanding AI deal sheet

The ElevenLabs agreement is the latest in a growing list of AI partnerships for UMG. The major label is already developing a separate AI music platform with Udio, and has previously signed AI licensing deals with Spotify, Nvidia, and Klay. The announcement lands just days after Suno released its first AI music model trained on licensed tracks from Warner Music Group, BMG, and other music industry partners - a sign that major rights holders are increasingly choosing negotiated licensing over litigation as their primary strategy for engaging with AI music tools.

The commercial terms of the UMG-ElevenLabs deal, including any revenue-sharing structure or advance payments, were not disclosed in the announcement. ElevenLabs specializes in AI voice and audio generation, and its existing Music API is already available to developers independently of this new consumer-facing venture.

How the platform will be distributed - whether as a standalone product, embedded in a streaming service, or accessible through ElevenLabs’ existing interface - has not been announced. UMG and ElevenLabs say more details about additional products and fan experiences will follow “in the months and years to come.”

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