NMPA Signs First Industry-Wide AI Licensing Deal with Udio
On June 10, 2023, during its annual meeting in New York, the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) unveiled a groundbreaking AI licensing agreement with Udio, which is the first to assign equal value to songs and sound recordings for AI training purposes. Members of the NMPA can opt into this agreement starting June 15. Additionally, NMPA has reached a preliminary agreement with KLAY, which is set to finalize contracts with all major music companies by November 2025. This Udio agreement comes after legal actions, including a lawsuit from RIAA against Udio and Suno in June 2024. Universal settled in October 2025, followed by Warner in November 2025, Merlin in January 2026, and Kobalt in April 2026, while Sony Music's lawsuit remains ongoing. In September, NMPA will host an AI Songs Summit in Nashville to tackle issues related to streaming fraud.
Key facts
- NMPA signed first industry-wide AI licensing deal with Udio.
- Deal values songs and sound recordings equally for AI training.
- David Israelite announced deal on June 10 at NMPA annual meeting in New York.
- Udio co-founder and CEO Andrew Sanchez attended the meeting.
- NMPA members can join the Udio deal from June 15.
- Agreement in principle reached with KLAY, which licenses music before launch.
- KLAY founder and CEO Ary Attie and co-founder Thomas Hesse attended.
- KLAY had already signed deals with all three major music companies in November 2025.
- RIAA sued Udio and Suno in June 2024 for copyright infringement.
- Universal Music Group settled with Udio in October 2025.
- Warner Music Group settled in November 2025.
- Merlin settled in January 2026.
- Kobalt settled in April 2026.
- Sony Music's lawsuit against Udio is ongoing.
- Apple Music found around two billion fraudulent streams in 2025.
- Deezer reported 60,000 AI-generated tracks uploaded daily, rising to 75,000 by April.
- Israelite called streaming fraud a national security issue.
- NMPA will hold AI Songs Summit in Nashville in September.
Entities
Artists
- P!nk
- Julian Bunetta
- Harvey Mason jr.
Institutions
- National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA)
- Udio
- KLAY
- RIAA
- Universal Music Group
- Sony Music
- Warner Music Group
- Merlin
- Kobalt
- Apple Music
- Deezer
- Music Business Worldwide
Locations
- New York
- United States
- Nashville