Universal Music Group (UMG) is collaborating with tech giant Nvidia to develop what it describes as an “antidote to AI slop” in the music industry.

The music group said that the partnership will set new standards for innovation and responsibility in the sector, with the companies aiming to support rightsholder compensation, explore ways to use AI to protect artists’ work, and ensure "proper attribution of music-based content.”

As part of the move, the companies are creating an artist incubator that brings together artists, songwriters, and producers to co-design and test new AI-powered tools.

They said that by prioritising "hands-on" artist involvement, the incubator develops solutions that promote originality and authenticity, serving as a "direct antidote" to generic “AI slop” outputs and placing artists at the centre of responsible AI innovation.

The collaboration will also explore ways to elevate music experiences by using AI to improve discovery, engagement and consumption beyond current constructs of search and personalisation.

“We’re excited to establish this ground-breaking strategic relationship which unites the world’s leading technology company with the world’s leading music company in a shared mission to harness revolutionary AI technology to dramatically advance the interests of the creative community and the role of music in global culture," said UGM chief executive and chairman Sir Lucian Grainge.

The move comes after UMG announced the settlement of a copyright infringement litigation with AI-powered music creation platform Udio in October last year.

Under “industry-first” strategic agreements between the two companies, as well as the compensatory legal settlement, the firms agreed to launch a new licenced AI music creation platform.

UMG is also the first company to enter into AI-related agreements with YouTube, TikTok, Meta, KDDI, KLAY Vision, BandLab, Soundlabs and Pro-Rata, among others.

The settlement followed a dispute by UMG which accused the AI business of copyright infringement.

UMG said at the time that the new platform, which will be launched this year, will be powered by new "cutting-edge" generative AI technology that will be trained on authorised and licensed music.

It added that a new subscription service will "transform the user engagement experience" by creating a licensed and protected environment to customise, stream and share music responsibly, on the Udio platform.

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