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Universal Music Group settles with Udio and licenses its catalog for a new AI music platform
Universal Music Group settled its copyright lawsuit against Udio and signed new licenses covering recorded music and publishing. The companies plan a licensed subscription platform for 2026.
NEW YORK, October 29, 2025 Universal Music Group (UMG) and AI music platform Udio announced a settlement of UMG's copyright lawsuit against Udio, together with new license agreements for recorded music and publishing. The companies did not disclose financial terms.1
Terms of the deal
The settlement is described as compensatory, and the new licenses cover UMG's recorded music and publishing catalogs. The companies will build a subscription platform for creating, streaming and sharing music, with a launch targeted for 2026. Udio's existing product remains available during the transition, with user creations held in a closed environment while fingerprinting and filtering measures are added.1 No settlement amount, license fee or subscription price was disclosed.
Background
The RIAA, on behalf of Universal, Sony Music and Warner Records, sued Udio and Suno in 2024 for alleged copyright infringement in training. Universal was the first major label to resolve its claims with either company. The other major labels continued to pursue claims against Suno at the time.1 Udio stopped allowing users to download songs they had created after the announcement, which prompted a backlash from some paying subscribers.1 The change illustrates that licensed products often come with tighter controls on outputs than the unlicensed versions they replace, and users and sellers alike should expect that tradeoff.
What it means for data sellers
The deal shows rights holders turning litigation into license income, and AI companies agreeing to opt-in participation and controlled outputs. Sellers with large, well documented catalogs have leverage when a buyer already faces infringement claims. Data owners should expect terms to cover both past use and future products.
How the deal came together
- Lawsuit. The RIAA, acting for the major labels, sued Udio and Suno in 2024 over alleged mass copying of recordings for training.
- Settlement talks. Universal and Udio negotiated a compensatory settlement alongside forward-looking licenses.
- Announcement. Both companies announced the settlement and licensing agreements on October 29, 2025.
- Product reset. Udio kept its current service in a closed environment while adding fingerprinting and filtering ahead of the new platform.
Takeaways for companies with data
- A lawsuit can be the opening move in a licensing negotiation, not only a way to win damages.
- Licenses that cover both recordings and publishing reach more of the rights chain.
- Expect buyers to accept product limits, such as closed environments, as part of the price of access.
Sources
Every numbered reference above points to an entry here. Figures come from these pages as of the date shown at the top of the article. Where a source reports a number it got from unnamed people, the text says so.
- Universal Music settles Udio lawsuit, strikes deal for licensed AI music platform (Music Business Worldwide, October 2025)
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About the AI Data Deal Tracker
SellYourAIData tracks publicly reported sales and licenses of data to AI companies, with the price, terms and sources for each. Entries are checked against public reporting and updated as deals change. SellYourAIData was not involved in this deal. To ask what your company's data could sell for, get a free valuation. To report a deal, contact us.