FM PRO TECH NEWS
The National Music Publishers’ Association has agreed an industry-wide AI licensing deal with Udio, marking a major shift in how music publishers are approaching generative AI platforms.
Announced by NMPA President and CEO David Israelite at the trade body’s annual meeting in New York, the agreement gives NMPA members the option to join the Udio deal from June 15.
The key signal is valuation. Israelite said the agreement is the first industry-wide licensing deal with a major AI music company to value songs and sound recordings equally for AI training. He said:
Songs are just as important, if not more, than sound recordings when it comes to AI training.
The NMPA also confirmed an agreement in principle with KLAY, an AI music platform built around licensed music and interactive listening tools. That deal is expected to launch later this summer.
Udio’s move is especially notable because the platform was sued in 2024 by the major labels through the RIAA. Since then, it has moved from litigation target to licensed partner, with deals involving Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Merlin, Kobalt, and now the NMPA.
Sony Music remains the major outlier, with its case against Udio still ongoing.
Israelite made clear that licensing and litigation will now run side by side:
Litigating against bad AI actors and licensing good AI partners is not in conflict. NMPA will do both.
That is the real FM PRO TECH signal. The music business is not rejecting AI outright. It is trying to separate licensed infrastructure from extraction machines.
The next fight will be enforcement: AI training rights, song valuation, streaming fraud, fake uploads, and whether platforms can prove their models are built on permission rather than scraped catalogues.
Not exactly glamorous. But this is where the new music economy gets written.