Universal Music Group has signed a licensing deal with ElevenLabs, the AI audio company now valued at $11 billion, to build a platform allowing fans to create remixes, mashups and other reinterpretations of UMG tracks. The partnership marks one of the label’s most direct moves yet to bring generative AI tools into an official, licensed fan-facing product rather than treating such use as unauthorized.
ElevenLabs, known for its voice-cloning and synthetic audio technology, has been expanding beyond text-to-speech into broader music applications and has drawn significant investor interest amid the AI boom. The UMG deal signals growing willingness among major labels to strike commercial agreements with AI firms rather than pursue litigation alone, following a pattern of licensing talks across the industry as rights holders look to control how their catalogs are used in AI-generated content.
Read the full story at Music Business Worldwide.