Photo Credit: Brecht Corbeel
13 months after unveiling plans “to greatly expand” its patent portfolio under a Liquidax Capital joint venture, Universal Music Group (UMG) has officially licensed the AI-focused IP to both Udio and GRAI.
The UMG-Liquidax JV itself, Music IP Holdings (MIH), disclosed the high-profile deals in a formal release that was emailed to DMN. As emphasized in this release and on MIH’s detail-oriented website, the entity has already secured north of two dozen patents, with more than 50 others pending.
(“The portfolio spans the full process of creating, licensing and commercializing AI-generated content: from the moment a prompt is entered through moderation, watermarking, identifier tagging, authorization, licensed distribution and payment across both open and closed ecosystems,” MIH summed up.)
And evidently, it’s plowing full steam ahead with plans to cash in on the IP. To be sure, the same site contains an in-depth application for “qualified organizations” that are looking to license the patents.
The early participation of Udio doesn’t come as a surprise; having previously locked horns with UMG in the courtroom, the gen AI platform is now collaborating with the major (plus Warner Music and Merlin, but not Sony Music) on a licensed product.
And while GRAI hasn’t made quite as many headlines, the AI-powered remix and social listening app’s willingness to license the patents isn’t shocking either. Back in April, the Warsaw-headquartered startup closed a $9 million seed round led by Khosla Ventures, which also has stakes in Hook and Splash, the former of which just inked a “landmark” UMG deal.
But what about companies that aren’t so eager to pay for a patent license? It appears that infringement complaints are very much on the table for MIH as well – an interesting possibility indeed in an industry that’s been on the opposite side of many patent cases over the years.
The appropriate site underscores that utilizing “patented technology without a license is infringement” even if one wrote the code at hand. More pressingly, in MIH’s view, tech that “generates music,” “transforms audio into new structures,” “uses novel audio workflows,” and/or “analyzes or decomposes music” needs a license.
Does this mean the likes of Klay Vision and Spotify must also hammer out patent pacts with MIH? Time will tell, but between its website and its Music Row headquarters, which quietly opened last November, the UMG-Liquidax JV is certainly eyeing additional agreements from here.
Helping the process along is Bill Campbell’s Barefoot Media firm, which “is supporting MIH in bringing the portfolio to market and developing licensing opportunities across the technology and creative industries,” according to the patentholder.
“Throughout every major shift in digital music,” Campbell added, “the most successful models have been built by bringing technology companies and rightsholders together around clear, practical licensing frameworks.
“MIH’s portfolio creates that bridge for generative AI—giving responsible innovators a path to market while helping protect artists, songwriters and the value of their work. Barefoot Media is proud to help bring this framework to the global creative and technology communities,” he concluded.
And in remarks of his own, Music IP Holdings and Liquidax CEO Daniel Drolet struck an optimistic tone concerning the patents’ perceived ability to establish artist protections while unlocking “new opportunities for responsible innovation.”
“This portfolio is designed to do both: creating new opportunities for responsible innovation while giving artists, songwriters and rightsholders stronger protections and the ability to share in the value their work creates,” Drolet continued.
“The portfolio was developed to enable a standard that provides creators of all types the ability to generate, track and ensure new AI revenue streams while simultaneously providing strong options to manage unauthorized AI outputs,” he finished.