AI-Generated Music Licensing: Google and Universal Music Aim to Counter Deepfake Songs Phenomenon

Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL Google and Universal Music discussed licensing artists' melodies and voices for AI-generated songs to address the rise of "deepfake" songs.

They explored a partnership to develop a tool that allows fans to create AI-generated tracks and pay copyright owners legitimately, the Financial Times reports.

Warner Music Group Corp WMG has also talked with Google about a similar product.

The AI-generated songs trend resembles the early days of YouTube, when users added popular songs to their videos, leading to copyright battles and eventual agreements for compensation.

The growth of AI-generated music bred concerns among celebrities about the dilution of their work and voices by fake versions. Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Drake, and The Weeknd had been victims of the technology.

Some artists, like Grimes, have embraced AI-generated music and offered their voices for AI tracks, splitting royalties.

Universal Music urged streaming platforms to prevent unauthorized AI services from using its songs. The company asked Spotify Technology S.A. SPOT and Apple Inc AAPL to restrict access to its music catalog for AI technology training.

Google's interest in creating a music product with AI-generated songs aligns with its competition against Microsoft Corp MSFT, which invested in AI company OpenAI and integrated AI models into its products.

Google's previous preview of AI-powered music software-generated music from text descriptions and later released the experimental tool, MusicLM, in collaboration with artists.

Price Action: GOOG shares traded higher by 0.43% at $132.41 premarket on the last check Wednesday.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.