Now it's the music industry's turn to give in to generative AI

Less than a year after suing them, Sony, Universal, and Warner are negotiating with generative AI start-ups Suno and Udio. The goal: to grant them licenses for their catalogs. This is a symbolic about-face for an industry that, once again, is being shaken up by technology.

Suno and Udio offer tools that can generate songs from simple text instructions. To do this, their models must first be trained on existing music. This is precisely what sparked the hostilities: on June 24, 2024, the major labels filed a lawsuit against the two start-ups, accusing them of copying their recordings without permission. These practices were deemed a "massive copyright infringement," with creations intended to "directly compete with, disparage, and drown out" the work of human artists.

From litigation to negotiations

Less than a year later, the lines are shifting. Discussions between the major labels and both the start-ups are now at an advanced stage. The goal is to conclude a licensing agreement that would enable the controlled use of music catalogs for AI training. Such a partnership would mark a turning point, both for the remuneration of artists in the AI era and for the technological development of these tools.

The labels want to establish a precise traceability system, similar to content identification on YouTube. Using fingerprinting technology, each song generated could be linked to its sources, ensuring reliable attribution and fair revenues for rights holders.

To reassure artists, the agreements would include an opt-out clause allowing certain catalogs to be excluded. They could also settle ongoing disputes and, in some cases, lead to the major labels acquiring stakes in the start-ups concerned.

Universal, Warner, and Sony are moving forward separately in these negotiations, at different paces.

Others before them

Music isn't the only industry changing its tune in the face of AI. The press is also seeing some shifts. First, in dispute with the New York Times, Amazon is now close to reaching a global agreement with the daily newspaper for the use of its articles and the training of Alexa. Meanwhile, OpenAI is multiplying partnerships: after Le Monde, the Financial Times and the Axel Springer group (Bild, Politico), the company is lining up licensing agreements with the big names in news.

Even publishing houses are getting in on the act: in 2024, HarperCollins signed a licensing agreement with an anonymous artificial intelligence technology company to allow its books to be used in training AI models for €2,500 per book.