Universal Music Group (UMG) and Amazon Music announced an expanded global partnership on Monday, aiming to foster innovation, provide exclusive content with UMG artists, and enhance artist-centric practices, including improved fraud protection. The two companies pledged to work together to address issues such as unlawful AI-generated content, fraud, and misattribution.
This expanded agreement reflects both companies’ commitment to supporting human artistry and ensuring UMG’s artists reach their commercial potential. It also includes efforts to enhance fan engagement through product innovations and exclusive content. The partnership will focus on exploring new opportunities that benefit artists and enrich fan experiences, while UMG continues to expand its audio offerings, including audiobooks, audio-visual programming, and live-streamed content.
“We’re excited to evolve our long-standing partnership with Amazon Music into a new era of streaming, Streaming 2.0,” said UMG Chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge. He praised Amazon Music’s dedication to artists’ interests and looked forward to driving innovation and growth together.
Steve Boom, VP of audio, Twitch, and games at Amazon, emphasized the strong collaboration between UMG and Amazon Music, highlighting their shared goal of improving artist-to-fan connections and protecting creators’ work.
UMG has also been working with AI companies to responsibly maximize the benefits of AI for artists. Its partnerships with companies like YouTube/Google, ProRata.AI, and SoundLabs have led to projects like the release of Brenda Lee’s Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree in Spanish, created using SoundLabs’ AI technology. UMG also teamed up with AI music company Klay Vision in October to develop an ethical framework for AI-generated music in collaboration with the music industry.
