UMG Inks “Ethical” AI Deal With Stealth Startup Klay

UMG Inks “Ethical” AI Deal With Stealth Startup Klay

Music industry titan Universal Music Group (UMG) announced a partnership with Los Angeles-based AI company Klay Vision to develop “a pioneering commercial ethical foundational model for AI generated music.” The deal comes amid growing concerns over how AI is being used and deployed across creative industries, including litigation between music labels like UMG and AI companies. 

Little is known about the partnership or precisely what Klay is developing with access to UMG’s catalogue. The California-based startup, which is still in stealth mode, says it plans to launch in the next few months. 

Klay says it is “developing a global ecosystem to host AI-driven experiences and content” and claims its product, a Large Music Model dubbed ‘KLayMM’, “will significantly advance state-of-the-art Music AI” and “revolutionize the way people think about music.” The model will “power a new generation of creative music experiences and drive new avenues of monetization for artists,” the pair said in a press release. 

Copyright tensions

UMG and Klay gave few details on the collaboration but said the AI model will work “in collaboration with the music industry and its creators” and be “fully respectful of copyright, as well as name and likeness rights.” 

The partnership comes amid escalating tensions in the industry over the use of generative AI and its impact on creative professions. The use of copyrighted material to train AI models, and how, if at all, creatives should be compensated for this, has been a particular sticking point. As one of the largest companies in the field, it is an issue that UMG has been vocal about. 

Alongside other industry heavyweights Sony Music and Warner Records, UMG is suing AI startups Suno and Udio over alleged mass copyright infringement for using recordings to train generative AI systems. UMG is also engaged in litigation against AI company Anthropic over claims its chatbot Claude distributes copyrighted song lyrics. 

UMG and Klay insist its “ethical” approach to generative AI “will dramatically lessen the threat to human creators and stand the greatest opportunity to be transformational, creating significant new avenues for creativity and future monetisation of copyrights.” Moreover, Klay says its content “will not compete with artists’ catalogs in traditional music services.”

‘The next Beatles will play with Klay’

Klay says it believes AI can be used to enhance, rather than replace, human creativity. The startup said it is “committed to the premise that AI can bolster and grow musical creativity and human artistry.”

“Research is critical to building the foundations for AI music, but the tech is only an empty vessel when it doesn’t engage with the culture it is meant to serve,” said Klay founder and CEO Ary Attie, adding that the company’s ultimate mission is to make its technology ”invisible and mission-critical to people’s daily lives.” 

“Only then can music AI become more than a short-lived gimmick,” Attie explained. “Our great artists have always embraced the newest technologies – we believe the next Beatles will play with Klay.”

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