Today, Universal Music Group announced a multi-year licensing agreement with ElevenLabs, the AI audio company known for voice cloning and generative sound tools, to build a brand-new platform where fans can remix and mash up songs from participating artists.
This is ElevenLabs’ first deal with a major record label, but it holds greater significance in how the music industry is starting to treat AI as an inevitable part of its future.
A new way to remix licensed music
The upcoming platform will let you pull from UMG’s catalog to create remixes, mashups, and completely new interpretations of existing tracks. ElevenLabs also plans to offer personalized vocal experiences to help fans reshape songs in ways that feel more customized.
Artists will get to choose whether their music is included, and UMG says any participating artist will be fairly compensated when their work gets used. The new platform will stay separate from ElevenLabs’ existing music tools, its Music API and the ElevenMusic generator, so this is something built specifically for this collaboration.
Why does it matter?
UMG has spent the last few years suing AI companies like Suno over copyright concerns, and that legal battle is still ongoing, with Sony Music also involved.
However, the partnership with ElevenLabs shows that UMG is warming up to AI music on its own terms. It follows a similar deal UMG struck with Spotify back in May, which lets Premium subscribers pay extra to create AI covers and remixes of songs from participating UMG artists. Clearly, UMG now sees licensed AI remixing as a real revenue stream, not just something to fight in court.
This kind of licensed AI partnership is quickly becoming the industry norm. Suno also just rolled out new AI models built with help from Warner Music Group and BMG days earlier. Universal Music Group’s Chairman Sir Lucian Grainge now says the goal is putting artists, songwriters, and fans at the center of what AI can do.
