Meta and Universal Music Group Sign New AI Music Deal

Meta and Universal Music Group (UMG) announced a significant expansion of their multi-year music licensing agreement on Monday, allowing users to share songs from UMG’s extensive music library across Meta’s platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Horizon, Threads, and WhatsApp, without infringing copyright. A key aspect of this new agreement is its focus on addressing “unauthorized AI-generated content,” which has become a pressing issue as AI systems scrape songs without the consent of original creators. UMG's chief digital officer, Michael Nash, emphasized the importance of protecting artists' rights in the face of these challenges. This partnership follows a tumultuous period between UMG and TikTok, where UMG's catalog was temporarily removed from the platform due to concerns over AI and online safety. A truce was reached in May, allowing music from prominent artists like Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift to return to TikTok. The new agreement with Meta comes in the wake of a lawsuit filed by the Recording Industry Association of America against AI music generation startups Udio and Suno, alleging they trained their models using copyrighted music. In a bid to maintain ethical standards, Meta claims its generative AI models, such as AudioCraft and MusicGen, are trained exclusively on “Meta-owned and specifically licensed music.” However, concerns remain about the potential misuse of these technologies, including the risk of creating deepfakes. Notably, this agreement marks the first instance where WhatsApp users can share licensed music from UMG, further expanding the reach of this collaboration.