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Universal Music is launching an AI music platform with ElevenLabs

2026-09-10 | original

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Why This Matters

Universal Music Group, historically one of AI's most aggressive litigants, is now licensing its catalog to ElevenLabs to build a platform where fans can generate remixes and mashups from real, cleared music. That shift signals major labels would rather monetize and control generative AI than fight it, potentially setting the template for how rights and royalties work in AI music.

Key Takeaways

UMG and ElevenLabs signed a multi-year licensing deal for an AI platform letting users remix and reimagine licensed tracks.
The labels' pivot from litigation to licensing suggests rights-cleared AI music tools, with artist compensation, are the emerging industry model.
The new platform will be separate from ElevenLabs' existing Music API and ElevenMusic products, with more fan experiences promised but unspecified.

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is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.

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Universal Music Group is launching a new AI-powered platform that will allow users to draw from its catalog of licensed music to create song remixes, mashups, and new takes on tracks, according to an announcement on Thursday. The record label is developing the platform through a multi-year licensing agreement with ElevenLabs, a company that specializes in AI voice and music generation.

UMG and ElevenLabs’ partnership will also include the “development of additional products and fan experiences in the months and years to come,” though the press release doesn’t include other details about what this might entail.

”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,” ElevenLabs CEO Mati Staniszewski says in the press release. The new AI music platform will remain separate from ElevenLabs’ Music API and ElevenMusic generator.

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