Universal Music Strikes AI Partnership With Nvidia

By Mauro Orru

Universal Music Group said it was joining forces with Nvidia to leverage artificial intelligence for music discovery, creation and fan engagement as the record label steps up efforts to harness the technology.

The company behind Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift said it would deploy Music Flamingo--a large audio-language model that Nvidia introduced in November--to help fans discover music. Universal said the model uses chain-of-thought reasoning that allows listeners to explore music in ways that go beyond traditional tags or genres like narrative and cultural resonance.

The company also said Music Flamingo would help boost fan engagement since the model makes it easier for artists to analyze, describe and share their music with the best audiences. Nvidia and Universal also agreed to establish a so-called artist incubator that will let songwriters and producers co-design and test new AI-powered tools aimed at enhancing originality and authenticity in music creation and combat what the record label dubbed AI slop output.

Universal Music Chief Executive Lucian Grainge said the partnership represented an opportunity to leverage AI in the interests of artists and the creative community. Grainge has been a fierce defender of artists' rights against the threats of AI as the technology can easily generate music, emulate voices and blunt originality.

Universal hasn't shied away from suing companies it accused of unlawfully using copyrighted lyrics from its artists. Last year, Universal signed a deal with AI music generator Udio to launch a new platform trained on licensed songs, part of a settlement in a dispute in which Universal had accused the AI startup of copyright infringement.

"We're entering an era where a music catalog can be explored like an intelligent universe--conversational, contextual, and genuinely interactive," Richard Kerris, Nvidia's general manager for media and entertainment, said. "By extending Nvidia's Music Flamingo with UMG's unmatched catalog and creative ecosystem, we're going to change how fans discover, understand, and engage with music on a global scale. And we'll do it the right way: responsibly, with safeguards that protect artists' work, ensure attribution, and respect copyright."

The partnership with Nvidia comes just over two months after Universal reached an agreement with AI startup Stability AI to develop professional music creation tools. The companies agreed to explore new recording and composition concepts, liaising closely with artists to ensure the new tools are beneficial and not detrimental to their work.

Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 06, 2026 11:14 ET (16:14 GMT)