Universal Music Group and AI audio developer ElevenLabs have announced a multi-year licensing agreement and broader strategic collaboration to launch an AI-powered music platform and jointly develop AI audio products for artists and songwriters. The deal is ElevenLabs' first with a major label and covers both licensing and product development, framed around responsible AI innovation that respects human artistry and lets artists and songwriters share in the value created.
Key takeaways
- The first product is an AI-powered music creation platform built on licensed music and artist participation, still in development.
- Fans will be able to co-create with music from participating artists and songwriters via remixes and mashups, new track interpretations, and personalized vocal experiences.
- Additional products and fan experiences are planned over the coming months and years.
- The platform will be distinct and offered separately from ElevenLabs' existing music products: the Music API, studio-grade music models used by music technology, media, entertainment and social media businesses, and ElevenMusic, its music creation app for generating and editing original songs with granular control over vocals, instrumentation, style and arrangement.
For manufacturing and automation teams, the announcement signals continued demand for licensed, rights-managed generative audio pipelines — a model relevant to industrial applications where synthetic voice, sound design and content generation must run on cleared data with traceable provenance and compensation flows.
Source: Robotics & Automation News · Published 2026-09-18T20:32:44 · “Universal Music and ElevenLabs partner to develop AI music platform”