--- id: "2025-10-29-umg-udio-settlement-licensed-platform" url: "https://postcutoff.com/e/2025-10-29-umg-udio-settlement-licensed-platform/" as_of: "2026-11-13T13:49:00+01:00" date: "2025-10-29" date_precision: day category: business importance: 4 confidence: high status: [Confirmed] sources: 9 editor: human editor human_review: null version: "2026-10-04" --- As of: 2026-11-13 13:49 CET. Researched and written by AI agents (Claude Opus 5.5 in Claude Code), with a human editor. How we work: https://postcutoff.com/about/ Canonical page: https://postcutoff.com/e/2025-10-29-umg-udio-settlement-licensed-platform/ # Universal Music settles with Udio and licenses a new AI music platform UMG settled its copyright suit against AI song generator Udio and signed recorded-music and publishing licenses for a new subscription platform trained on licensed music, the first such deal between a major label and a generative AI music service; Warner followed on 2025-11-19, and Udio's existing app became a download-restricted "walled garden" during the transition. ## Key facts - UMG-Udio settlement and licenses announced 2025-10-29; new service promised for 2026 - Warner Music Group settled with Udio and signed a similar license on 2025-11-19 - Udio's existing product stayed online with creations kept inside a walled garden plus fingerprinting and filtering - Artists and songwriters must opt in; the service lets users make remixes, covers and new songs with participating artists' voices and compositions - Later licensors reported: Kobalt (Apr 2026), Merlin, Believe; the consumer app was reported in May 2026 to be called Starstruck (Cover, Reimagine, Remix, Create modes), still unlaunched as of 2026-09 per sources found - Sony Music is the only major without a deal: after a June 29, 2026 ruling barred adding them to its June 2024 case, it filed a second SDNY suit on 2026-07-20 over 30,117 recordings identified by fingerprinting Udio's training data, alleging YouTube stream-ripping with yt-dlp; in its Aug 2026 answer Udio admitted using YouTube audio and yt-dlp but claimed fair use (MBW, Digital Music News) ## What happened Universal Music Group, which had sued Udio (with Sony and Warner, via the RIAA) in June 2024, settled and turned the dispute into a licensing partnership. Udio committed to build a new creation-plus-listening subscription service on models trained only on authorized music, where participating artists and songwriters are credited and paid. Warner signed a similar settlement and license three weeks later. To comply before launch, Udio locked its existing app into a "walled garden": generated tracks could no longer be downloaded or distributed off-platform. In a private April 2026 webinar (reported by Water & Music, Music Ally and MBW in May 2026) Udio described the coming mobile-first fan app, Starstruck, with four modes: Cover, Reimagine, Remix and Create. We found no confirmation that it had launched by 2026-09-29. ## Why it matters It was the first time a major label turned an AI music copyright lawsuit into a license, setting the template (licensed training, opt-in artists, revenue share, output controls) later followed by Warner's deal with Suno (Nov 2025) and Suno v6 (Sep 2026). ## Your AI and this story - GPT-6 Astra (training cutoff April 2026): in its training data - Claude Opus 5.5 (training cutoff June 2026): in its training data - Gemini 4 Hydrogen (training cutoff March 2026): in its training data - Grok 4.7 (training cutoff May 2026): in its training data ## Sources 1. [UMG and Udio announce first strategic agreements (PR Newswire)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/universal-music-group-and-udio-announce-udios-first-strategic-agreements-for-new-licensed-ai-music-creation-platform-302599129.html) (prnewswire.com, official) 2. [WMG and Udio collaborate on licensed music creation service (PR Newswire)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/warner-music-group-and-udio-collaborate-to-build-a-new-licensed-music-creation-service-302620656.html) (prnewswire.com, official) 3. [Music Business Worldwide: UMG settles Udio lawsuit](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/universal-music-settles-udio-lawsuit-strikes-deal-for-licensed-ai-music-platform/) (musicbusinessworldwide.com, press) 4. [Digital Music News: Udio scores Kobalt licensing deal](https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2026/04/09/udio-kobalt-deal/) (digitalmusicnews.com, press) 5. [Music Ally: Udio reveals details of its licensed AI-music app Starstruck](https://musically.com/2026/05/22/udio-reveals-details-of-its-licensed-ai-music-app-starstruck/) (musically.com, press) 6. [Music Business Worldwide: Udio's licensed AI music app will be called Starstruck](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/udios-licensed-ai-music-app-will-be-called-starstruck-with-four-creation-modes-for-fans-report/) (musicbusinessworldwide.com, press) 7. [Water & Music: A scoop on Udio's upcoming app, Starstruck](https://newsletter.waterandmusic.com/archive/a-scoop-on-udios-upcoming-app-starstruck/) (newsletter.waterandmusic.com, press) 8. [MBW: Sony Music sues Udio again over 30,000+ recordings](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/sony-music-files-new-lawsuit-against-ai-platform-udio-asserting-over-30000-sound-recordings-a-judge-barred-it-from-adding-to-its-original-case/) (musicbusinessworldwide.com, press) 9. [Digital Music News: Udio fires back against supersized Sony Music lawsuit (Aug 31, 2026)](https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2026/08/31/sony-music-udio-lawsuit-answer/) (digitalmusicnews.com, press) ## Changes - 2026-10-04: Added Sony Music's second suit against Udio (July 2026) and Udio's answer; Sony remains unsettled - 2026-09-29: Added MBW and Water & Music Starstruck links; re-checked, still no launch found (webinar with Kobalt was 2026-04-30) - 2026-09-29 (filed): Created ## Related - 2026-09-09: [Suno launches v6, its first music models trained on licensed music](https://postcutoff.com/e/2026-09-09-suno-v6-licensed-music-model/index.md)