Universal Music Group, the world’s largest record label, announced a groundbreaking partnership with Nvidia, the California-based chipmaker, aimed at transforming how music is created and discovered through artificial intelligence.
The collaboration marks one of the first major alliances between a leading record company and an AI technology firm, signaling the music industry’s cautious embrace of a rapidly evolving technology, Bloomberg first reported.
The partnership will leverage Nvidia’s Music Flamingo, an advanced audio-language model designed to interpret songs in a layered, human-like manner.
Unlike traditional search and recommendation systems, which categorize music by genre, tempo, or popularity, the new AI tools aim to help listeners explore songs according to “emotional narrative and cultural resonance,” according to a joint statement from the companies on Tuesday.
What they are saying
According to the companies, the tools are intended not only to enhance fan engagement but also to open new avenues for emerging artists, giving them a better chance of reaching audiences most likely to become devoted listeners.
“This is an era where a music catalogue can be explored like an intelligent universe, conversational, contextual, and genuinely interactive,” said Richard Kerris, general manager for media and entertainment at Nvidia.
As part of the collaboration, Universal and Nvidia plan to launch an incubator where artists can co-design and test AI-powered tools. The initiative seeks to counter the “generic ‘AI slop’ outputs” that have characterized some early attempts at machine-generated music, the statement said.
- The move reflects a broader shift in the music industry’s approach to artificial intelligence. For years, major record labels viewed AI as a threat, particularly to their valuable catalogs.
- In 2024, Universal, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group filed lawsuits against AI music startups Suno Inc. and Udio, alleging copyright infringement.
- But in the past year, the industry has moved toward cooperation. Universal and Warner settled with Udio, agreeing to explore new AI-driven music creation and streaming platforms, while Warner also reached a partnership with Suno.
Meanwhile, all three major labels have licensed their works to Klay, a startup building a streaming service that allows users to remix and recreate songs using AI tools, Bloomberg reported.
What you should know
For Universal, the partnership with Nvidia represents a careful balancing act: harnessing the power of AI to drive discovery and creativity, while protecting the intellectual property that remains the foundation of the business.
In 2024, UMG completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Mavin Global (Mavin), a music company headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. Founded in 2012 by Michael Collins Ajereh, better known as Don Jazzy, Mavin has been instrumental in propelling Afrobeats artists onto the global stage.
The acquisition came five years after Mavin received a multi-million-dollar investment from Kupanda Holdings, a joint venture between pan-African investment company Kupanda Capital and TPG Growth.
With AI on one side and a growing footprint in Afrobeats on the other, Universal is positioning itself to redefine music discovery and creation not just for Western audiences, but globally.
