Art has always been under the influence by Artifice, in all senses of the word: as craftsmanship, as chicanery, and as sleight of hand. We’ve had the Monkees (authenticity under question as a «manufactured» band), Milli Vanilli (not actually singing on their hits), the whole boyband era and holograms, but we’re now seeing the first completely virtual/artificial artist, the Artificial Intelligence «artist» who is bringing a whole new level and volume of artifice.
We have now seen the first AI artist, Xania Monet, to earn enough radio play to appear on the Billboard list, marking a new milestone in the «AI-ification» of music making. I feel that we are seeing a new AI artist «signing» with a label on a weekly basis, so obviously the entertainment conglomerates are embracing AI-produced «art».
The Stage is set for AI-Generated Hits
Platforms like Udio and Suno have demonstrated that artificial intelligence can generate remarkably realistic music at the click of a button. These systems, trained on vast datasets of existing music, can produce everything from lo-fi beats to orchestral compositions, often indistinguishable from human-created works to the untrained ear.
The numbers tell a story of a deluge already in full motion. According to streaming service Deezer, approximately 30,000 AI-generated tracks are uploaded to their platform every single day. Yet despite this mass of synthetic content, AI-generated music accounts for less than half of one percent of actual listening. This disconnect indicates that while AI can create music at scale, listeners still crave the authenticity and emotional resonance that comes from human artistry connected to real songs and real artists.
However, I have made the argument before that the music we consume has become so standardized and sanitized through compositional, stylistic, performance and production choices that the «artificialization» of art has been in process for quite a while already. Meaning, the (over)use of autotune and the general digital production, mixing and mastering process all create an «unnatural» sound where every note is placed on the harmonic and rhythmic grid.
Popular music today has become «gridlocked» and the average listener is being trained to listen to sounds where the human factor has been «flattened out,” and all idiosyncrasies erased. It’s almost like we have been prepped for the «A(I)lien» invasion by slowly being acclimatized to a synthetic audio-environment.
As AI-generated music floods streaming platforms at unprecedented rates, the industry faces a fundamental question: How do we harness this technology while protecting the rights and livelihoods of human artists?
More than 200 artists signed an open letter last year calling for the “predatory” use of AI in music to be stopped. The core concern wasn’t the technology itself, but rather how AI companies were training their models on copyrighted material without permission or compensation to the original artists.
From Lawsuit to Partnership: The UMG-Udio Deal
When the major labels filed lawsuits against Udio and Sumo in 2024 I predicted that it was all just negotiation tactics between the two parties (Entertainment conglomerates vs. AI companies) to decide on how to best monetize and divvy up the revenue from AI-generated content.
And, just over a year after UMG, alongside Sony Music and Warner Music Group, sued Udio for what they called copyright infringement “on an almost unimaginable scale,” the two companies have reached a settlement and announced plans to launch a new AI Music service in 2026.
The lawsuit had accused Udio of training its AI models on millions of copyrighted songs without authorization, potentially exposing the company to billions in damages. Now, that legal battle has evolved into what both companies describe as “industry-first strategic agreements” that could serve as a blueprint for how AI and the music industry coexist.
The settlement includes financial compensation for UMG as well as comprehensive licensing agreements for both recorded music and publishing assets. This creates new revenue streams for UMG artists and songwriters who choose to participate. The deal does operate on an opt-in basis allowing artists to control whether their music is used to train AI models and how their creative work is utilized on the platform.
The Walled Garden (of Eden)
Rather than allowing AI creations to proliferate freely across the internet and compete directly with human artists on platforms like Spotify, the new Udio platform will function as a “walled garden.” Users will be able to create, stream, and share AI-generated music within the service, but they won’t be able to export or download their creations for use elsewhere.
This is obviously a positive step, though personally I feel it is questionable to open the floodgates (even in a walled garden) for AI-created tracks as, inevitably, this will take attention (and streaming revenue) away from flesh and blood artists.
According to Udio CEO Andrew Sanchez, the platform will offer fans unprecedented ways to engage with their favorite artists and songs. Imagine being able to remix your favorite track in a different genre, mashup multiple artists’ styles, or even create new songs using an artist’s actual voice (with the artist’s explicit permission.) “The vision is that you’re gonna be able to consume and interact with your favorite songs and artists in the same place,” Sanchez explained to Rolling Stone.
Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of UMG, framed the partnership as essential to building a responsible AI ecosystem. “These new agreements with Udio demonstrate our commitment to do what’s right by our artists and songwriters, whether that means embracing new technologies, developing new business models, diversifying revenue streams or beyond,” he stated.
Interactivity is a great vehicle for fan engagement and creating a «responsible AI ecosystem» is crucial, but when it comes to «diversifying revenue streams», this I believe will only benefit the companies, the right-holders of legacy artists and the Taylor Swift’s of this world, should they decide to «enter the garden». It is hard to see how these new revenue streams will touch emerging and independent artists.
Future Days
The UMG-Udio partnership suggests we’re heading toward a bifurcated digital music world. On one side, traditional streaming platforms like Spotify, Tidal and Deezer will continue hosting the full commercial music catalog, potentially with AI features focused on remixing and reimagining existing tracks. On the other side, dedicated AI music platforms will operate as self-contained ecosystems where users create and share AI-generated content without it spilling over into the broader music marketplace.
There will undoubtably be noisy grey-zones as AI-tools are becoming more and more commonplace and adding further distortion to the notion of the «real artist». How much AI can you use when creating music before your effectively an «Artificial Artist»? There’s no framework in place to define how «artificial» a product is allowed to get (as with food).
It’s worth noting that while UMG has reached this settlement, Sony Music and Warner Music Group remain in active litigation against both Udio and its rival Suno. The outcome of these cases, and whether other major labels follow UMG’s lead in striking partnerships rather than continuing legal battles, will significantly shape the industry’s future.
Requiem for the Real Artist?
As this new service prepares for its 2026 launch, it will serve as a crucial test case. Can AI truly elevate fan engagement without diminishing artistic integrity? Can technology companies and rights-holders build sustainable business models together? The answers to these questions will reverberate far beyond music, influencing how creative industries across the spectrum approach the AI challenge.
The Stats Rock
- The global AI-in-music / generative-AI-music market is valued between ~$400M–$3.6B (2023–2024) with projections to reach $2.8B–$4.5B by the early 2030s/2025. (Source: grandviewresearch.com
- Producer / creator adoption: surveys show 20–37% of music producers or artists have used AI tools in their workflow.These figures depend heavily on the sample and how “use of AI” is defined (from stem separation to full-song generation). (Source: Music Business Worldwide)
- Platform-scale upload surge: streaming platforms are seeing tens of thousands of AI-generated tracks uploaded daily (Deezer reported 30,000/day), making AI tracks a large share of new uploads. (Source: Music Radar)
- Fraud and streaming manipulation: platforms and reports have flagged high rates of fraudulent plays on AI tracks in some cases (Deezer estimated up to 70% of plays for AI tracks were fraudulent in their analysis), and there are ongoing criminal/ civil cases alleging royalty fraud via mass-uploaded AI tracks.
.
