The music industry's AI race is heating up.
Just one day after the AI music giant Suno announced a new revenue model that will benefit artists signed to labels like Warner Music Group, the AI audio research and product company ElevenLabs announced a multi-year licensing agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG).
On Sept. 10, UMG released a statement about launching a new AI-powered music platform for fans to use, paying artists for access to original catalogs, in addition to new AI audio products for artists and songwriters.
In the Nashville music scene, UMG operates under MCA, which manages a massive roster of artists, mostly in the country genre. MCA includes the labels MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville and Lucille Records.
Some of the Nashville
artists on UMG imprints include Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, George Strait, Luke Bryan, Mickey Guyton, Parker McCollum and Vince Gill. Taylor Swift also releases her music under UMG.
The announcement follows similar news from UMG earlier this year when the music company inked a licensing deal with Spotify that will allow listeners to use generative AI music models to create remixes within the Spotify app.
Beyond Nashville talent, other artists on UMG's various label rosters include Kendrick Lamar, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Post Malone, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter and Lady Gaga.
The new AI-powered music creation platform, which will be built on licensed music and artist participation, will allow fans to create "remixes and mashups, new track interpretations, and personalized vocal experiences," according to a press release.
“The most exciting possibilities for AI and music are those that put artists, songwriters, and fans at the center,” said Sir Lucian Grainge, UMG CEO, in the press release.
“UMG and ElevenLabs are aligned that responsible AI can inspire discovery, deepen engagement between artists and fans, and unlock new revenue opportunities for the creative community."
The UMG-ElevenLabs agreement follows a growing number of AI music deals that aim to give artists new revenue models in a world where fans use AI to make songs inspired by favorite artists.
BMG and WMG artists can now opt in to let their songs be used by Suno users and gain shared revenue from the AI platform.
After news of the BMG deal, some artists have spoken out against growing AI presence at their label.
"This is end times for the music industry and nowhere in this is choice given," said Nashville artist MORGXN on Instagram.
"A yes/no is not sufficient. Understanding how royalties were destroyed with the invention of streaming this is not built with creatives in mind. We have no union and no way to fight this except to ride out to pasture and d*e on the hill of humanity."
Despite the uptick in AI music deals, a study by Luminate found overall interest in AI music has dropped. According to the 2025 report, music fans are increasingly uneasy with AI-generated songs.
The decline is especially notable with younger listeners.
"U.S. consumers are getting more skittish about generative AI being used to either fully or partially create the music they listen to," the study says.
"Overall, U.S. consumers tend to be less interested in engaging with media if it’s been created with the help of generative AI than would be more interested. Greater disinterest holds true across each media type, including music (44% less interested vs. 24% more) and film and TV (43% vs. 24%)."
Audrey Gibbs is a music reporter at The Tennessean. You can reach her at agibbs@tennessean.com. Follow her on Instagram at @audreyraegibbs.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Universal Music Group and ElevenLabs ink AI music deal
