Spotify and Universal Music strike deal allowing fan-made AI covers and remixes
Spotify and Universal Music strike deal allowing fan-made AI covers and remixes
Spotify 与环球音乐达成协议，允许粉丝创作 AI 翻唱和混音作品
Watch out, Suno. Spotify on Thursday announced it has partnered with Universal Music Group (UMG) to allow fans to use generative AI technology to create covers and remixes of their favorite songs. Suno 要小心了。Spotify 周四宣布已与环球音乐集团（UMG）达成合作，允许粉丝使用生成式 AI 技术，为他们喜爱的歌曲创作翻唱和混音作品。
The tool will launch as a paid add-on available only to Spotify’s Premium subscribers and will offer a revenue share with participating artists for the AI-generated music based on their work. 该工具将作为付费插件推出，仅面向 Spotify Premium 订阅用户开放，并将针对基于艺术家作品生成的 AI 音乐，与参与的艺术家进行收入分成。
The company did not share pricing or a launch date for the new tool, only that the two companies had come to a licensing agreement. However, Spotify had teased its plans last year, noting that it was working with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, Warner Music Group, Merlin, and Believe to develop artist-first AI products. 该公司并未透露该新工具的定价或发布日期，仅表示双方已达成许可协议。不过，Spotify 去年就曾预告过相关计划，指出其正在与环球音乐集团、索尼音乐集团、华纳音乐集团、Merlin 和 Believe 合作，开发以艺术家为先的 AI 产品。
The AI tools would be created through “upfront agreements, not by asking for forgiveness later,” Spotify said at the time, an obvious swipe at other players in the space, like Suno. Among the principles Spotify outlined: artists and rightsholders should be able to choose if and how they participate in AI tools, and if they do, they should be fairly compensated. Spotify 当时表示，这些 AI 工具将通过“事先达成协议，而不是事后请求原谅”的方式创建，这显然是对 Suno 等该领域其他参与者的抨击。Spotify 概述的原则包括：艺术家和版权所有者应能选择是否参与以及如何参与 AI 工具，如果参与，他们应获得公平的报酬。
“Solving hard problems for music is what Spotify does, and fan-made covers and remixes are next. What we’re building is grounded in consent, credit, and compensation for the artists and songwriters that take part,” said Spotify co-CEO Alex Norström, in a statement about the UMG agreement. “解决音乐领域的难题是 Spotify 的使命，而粉丝创作的翻唱和混音作品就是下一个目标。我们所构建的一切都建立在对参与艺术家和词曲作者的同意、署名和补偿基础之上，”Spotify 联席首席执行官 Alex Norström 在关于 UMG 协议的声明中表示。
“Through each technological transformation, we have worked together with Sir Lucian [Chairman & CEO, Universal Music Group] and his team to evolve the music ecosystem into a richer, more beneficial experience for fans and a more rewarding outcome for artists and songwriters.” “在每一次技术变革中，我们都与 Lucian 爵士（环球音乐集团董事长兼首席执行官）及其团队合作，将音乐生态系统演变为对粉丝而言更丰富、更有益的体验，并为艺术家和词曲作者带来更丰厚的回报。”
UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge, meanwhile, touted the development as a way for artists to deepen their fan relationships while also creating additional revenue opportunities. There’s no word yet on which UMG artists have agreed to participate. 与此同时，UMG 董事长兼首席执行官 Lucian Grainge 爵士称赞这一进展是艺术家加深与粉丝关系，同时创造额外收入机会的一种方式。目前尚不清楚哪些 UMG 旗下的艺术家已同意参与。
While services like Suno and Udio have been pioneers in the AI music space, they moved forward on shaky legal ground when building their AI music-making tools. Unsurprisingly, the major labels quickly sued. In November, Suno ended up settling a $500 million lawsuit with Warner Music Group, which came shortly after Universal Music Group (UMG) had settled its own suit with Udio. 虽然 Suno 和 Udio 等服务在 AI 音乐领域处于领先地位，但它们在构建 AI 音乐制作工具时，法律基础并不稳固。不出所料，各大唱片公司迅速提起了诉讼。11 月，Suno 最终与华纳音乐集团就 5 亿美元的诉讼达成和解，此前不久，环球音乐集团（UMG）也刚刚与 Udio 达成了和解。
Today, Suno is still facing copyright claims from UMG and Sony Music, among others. Udio, meanwhile, has settled with Warner Music and UMG, but is still working to settle with Sony. Seeing demand for this type of activity from consumers, Spotify went straight to the labels for a deal of its own. UMG may be the first of many label partnerships to come, though the company didn’t outright say so. 如今，Suno 仍面临来自 UMG 和索尼音乐等公司的版权索赔。与此同时，Udio 已与华纳音乐和 UMG 达成和解，但仍在努力与索尼达成和解。看到消费者对这类活动的需求，Spotify 直接与唱片公司达成了自己的协议。UMG 可能只是未来众多唱片公司合作中的第一家，尽管该公司并未明确说明这一点。
The news was shared amid a slew of Investor Day announcements from Spotify on Thursday, which also included an AI-powered audiobook creation tool, AI-powered features for podcasters, a desktop app to produce personal podcasts via AI, and reserved concert tickets for top fans. 此消息是在 Spotify 周四发布的一系列投资者日公告中分享的，公告内容还包括 AI 有声读物创作工具、播客 AI 功能、通过 AI 制作个人播客的桌面应用程序，以及为忠实粉丝预留的演唱会门票。