Music IP Holdings (MIH), formed through a partnership between Universal Music Group (UMG) and Liquidax Capital, announced on August 20 that AI music start-ups Udio and GRAI are the first licensees of its patent portfolio for AI product development.
MIH holds more than 24 patents and has over 50 pending, designed to support licensed AI services including covers, remixes and interactive music experiences. The patents provide frameworks for moderation, watermarking, identification tagging, authorization, licensed distribution and payment across ecosystems.
Udio CEO Andrew Sanchez said: “With MIH, we’re partnering to implement the infrastructure that protects artists and establish the guardrails that ensure AI amplifies human creativity.”
GRAI, a forthcoming social streaming service, was founded by the team behind video-editing app Vochi, which was acquired by Pinterest. The company has raised seed funding from Khosla Ventures and Inovo VC. GRAI CEO Ilya Liasun stated: “When someone puts something of their own into a song they love, the artist is asked, credited and paid, every time.”
UMG executive Chris Horton said the patents reinforce “the strategy we believe will play a critical role in the next era of music: embracing ethical innovation that puts artists and songwriters at the center.”
Source: Billboard
