Universal Music Group (UMG) chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge has updated UMG employees on the “progress” the music giant is making on generative artificial intelligence in a new staff-wide memo circulated Monday (Oct. 13), which outlines the company’s efforts to safeguard artists’ copyrighted material while touting the technology’s potential to unlock new revenue.

“UMG is playing a pioneering role in fostering AI’s enormous potential,” Grainge wrote in the memo. “While our progress is significant, the speed at which this technology is developing makes it important that you are all continually updated on our efforts and well-versed on the strategy and approach.”

Grainge went on to highlight UMG’s work with AI developers, noting the company’s AI deals with top platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Meta as well as emerging ones like BandLab and Soundlabs. Universal Music Japan, he added, recently announced a deal with Japanese telecommunications company KDDI to develop new music experiences for fans and artists using the technology.

The CEO also discussed AI’s potential “to connect our artists with their fans in new ways,” including through the use of agentic AI — essentially AI agents that are capable of more sophisticated problem-solving. In Grainge’s words, agentic AI has “the potential to revolutionize how fans interact with and discover music” and help provide “a significant source of new future revenue for artists and songwriters.”

Grainge additionally reiterated UMG’s commitment to responsibly trained AI, mentioning the company’s deals with AI developers like ProRata and KLAY and noting that it’s “in discussions with numerous additional like-minded companies whose products provide accurate attribution and tools which empower and compensate artists — products that both protect music and enhance its monetization.”

“And to be clear — and this is very important — we will NOT license any model that uses an artist’s voice or generates new songs which incorporate an artist’s existing songs without their consent,” Grainge continued. He added that many AI companies’ efforts to make it legal to train AI technology on copyrighted material with the consent of rights holders “amount to nothing more than the unauthorized (and, we believe, illegal) exploitation of the rights and property of creative artists.”

Grainge also addressed the topic of so-called “AI slop” on streaming services, pointing out UMG’s unveiling of “artist-centric” principles at the top of 2023 — notably before the AI revolution really began taking hold in the music business later that year — that he says were designed to “combat what is essentially platform pollution.”

“Since then, many of our platform partners have made significant progress in putting in place measures to address the diversion of royalties, infringement and fraud — all to the benefit of the entire music ecosystem,” he wrote, later noting UMG’s recently announced collaboration with SoundPatrol, which utilizes neural fingerprinting that it says can detect the use of copyrighted material in AI-generated songs (Sony also partnered with the company).

Read Grainge’s full memo below.

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing today to update you on the progress that we are making on our efforts to take advantage of the developing commercial opportunities presented by Gen AI technology for the benefit of all our artists and songwriters.  

I want to address three specific topics:  

UMG is playing a pioneering role in fostering AI’s enormous potential.  While our progress is significant, the speed at which this technology is developing makes it important that you are all continually updated on our efforts and well-versed on the strategy and approach.  

The foundation of what we’re doing is the belief that together, we can foster a healthy commercial AI ecosystem in which artists, songwriters, music companies and technology companies can all flourish together.  

NEW AGREEMENTS

To explore the varied opportunities and determine the best approaches, we have been working with AI developers to put their ideas to the test.  In fact, we were the first company to enter into AI-related agreements with companies ranging from major platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Meta to emerging entrepreneurs such as BandLab, Soundlabs, and more.  Both creatively and commercially our portfolio of AI partnerships continues to expand.

Very recently, Universal Music Japan announced an agreement with KDDI, a leading Japanese telecommunications company, to develop new music experiences for fans and artists using Gen AI.  And we are very actively engaged with nearly a dozen different companies on significant new products and service plans that hold promise for a dramatic expansion of the AI music landscape.  Further, we’re seeing other related advancements.  While just scratching the surface of AI’s enormous potential, Spotify’s recent integration with ChatGPT offers a pathway to move fluidly from query and discovery to enjoyment of music—and all within a monetized ecosystem. 

HOW OUR ARTISTS CAN PARTICIPATE

Based on what we’ve done with our AI partners to date, and the new discussions that are underway, we can unequivocally say that AI has the potential to deliver creative tools that will enable us to connect our artists with their fans in new ways—and with advanced capability on a scale we’ve never encountered.  

Further, I believe that Agentic AI, which dynamically employs complex reasoning and adaptation, has the potential to revolutionize how fans interact with and discover music.

I know that we will successfully navigate as well as seize these opportunities and that these new products could constitute a significant source of new future revenue for artists and songwriters.  

We will be actively engaged in discussing all of these developments with the entire creative community.

While some of the biggest opportunities will require further exploration, we are excited by the compelling AI models we’re seeing emerge.  

We will only consider advancing AI products based on models that are trained responsibly.  That is why we have entered into agreements with AI developers such as ProRata and KLAY, among others, and are in discussions with numerous additional like-minded companies whose products provide accurate attribution and tools which empower and compensate artists—products that both protect music and enhance its monetization.

And to be clear—and this is very important—we will NOT license any model that uses an artist’s voice or generates new songs which incorporate an artist’s existing songs without their consent.

New AI products will be joined by many other similar ones that will soon be coming to market, and we have established teams throughout UMG that will be working with artists and their representatives to bring these opportunities directly to them.

RESPONSIBLE PUBLIC POLICIES COVERING AI

We remain acutely aware of the fact that large and powerful AI companies are pressuring governments around the world to legitimize the training of AI technology on copyrighted material without owner consent or compensation, among other proposals.

To be clear: all these misguided proposals amount to nothing more than the unauthorized (and, we believe, illegal) exploitation of the rights and property of creative artists.

In addition, we are acting in the marketplace to see our partners embrace responsible and ethical AI policies and we’re proud of the progress being made there.  For example, having accurately predicted the rapid rise of AI “slop” on streaming platforms, in 2023 we introduced Artist-Centric principles to combat what is essentially platform pollution.   Since then, many of our platform partners have made significant progress in putting in place measures to address the diversion of royalties, infringement and fraud—all to the benefit of the entire music ecosystem.

We commend our partners for taking action to address this urgent issue, consistent with our Artist-Centric approach.  Further, we recently announced an agreement with SoundPatrol, a new company led by Stanford scientists that employs patented technology to protect artists’ work from unauthorized use in AI music generators.  

We are confident that by displaying our willingness as a community to embrace those commercial AI models which value and enhance human artistry, we are demonstrating that market-based solutions promoting innovation are the answer.  

LEADING THE WAY FORWARD

So,  as we work to assure safeguards for artists, we will help lead the way forward, which is why we are exploring and finding innovative ways to use this revolutionary technology to create new commercial opportunities for artists and songwriters while simultaneously aiding and protecting human creativity.    

I’m very excited about the products we’re seeing and what the future holds.  I will update you all further on our progress.

Lucian

Netflix unveiled the official trailer to the upcoming Juan Gabriel docuseries—titled Juan Gabriel: I Must, I Can, I Will—on Monday (Oct. 13). 

The two-minute preview kicks off with a video of the late Mexican artist walking on the beach saying: “when you leave, what remains is what you gave.” It then shows never-before-seen footage, including audio recordings and images of his younger years, his rise to success and touring life, as well as videos he captured himself from his personal archives. 

The four-episode docuseries, directed by María José Cuevas, and produced by Laura Woldenberg and Ivonne Gutiérrez by production company Mezcla, will give fans an intimate look on how the artist also known as El Divo de Juarez broke stereotypes in the traditional ranchera world. 

“We are excited to collaborate with Netflix to release the story of my father’s personal life and musical career in this documentary with Maria Jose Cuevas and with Mezcla,” Iván Aguilera, Juan Gabriel’s son, said in a press statement in 2023 when Netflix and the artist’s estate reached an agreement. “Bringing my father’s true story to the screen has been a project we have wanted to release for quite some time now. We are confident that with this team we have built, we can work closely together to bring his true story to life.”

‘Known for mariachi classics “Querida,” “Amor Eterno,” and “Hasta Que Te Conocí,” Juan Gabriel (real name: Alberto Aguilera Valadez)  sold over 150 million records, wrote more than 1,800 songs, released 34 studio albums, earned six Grammy nomination and won three posthumous Latin Grammys. In 1996, he was inducted into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame. In 2016, Juan Gabriel unexpectedly passed away from a heart attack in the middle of his MeXXIco Es Todo Tour. 

Juan Gabriel: I Must, I Can, I Will will premiere October 30 on Netflix. Watch the trailer below: 

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Britney Spears played a central role in Lukas Gage’s childhood upbringing, and in his new memoir, I Wrote This for Attention, the actor says he often turned to Spears’ music as a retreat from the “chaotic” world around him.

I Wrote This for Attention is available now on hardcover and as an audiobook narrated by the White Lotus and You star. In the new book, the actor writes candidly about his tumultuous family life, past run-ins with the law and even a diagnosed personality disorder, but some of the most memorable moments revolve around music.

In an early chapter, Gage recalls listening to Spears’ song “Lucky” on repeat in the bathroom and belting it out at the top of his lungs, despite being bullied by his older brother’s friends for “singing like a little bitch.” Though he was momentarily red-faced, Gage says he quickly realized music — and Britney — had the ability to heal him.

“I think she’s made an impact on so many queer people,” Gage tells Billboard, adding that he was “always drawn to these eccentric pop stars and people in pop culture; I was enamored.”

As Gage details in the book and audiobook, he quickly got over what little embarrassment he had from the bathroom incident, and would proudly declare his love for some good power pop from then on. “I had this little karaoke machine and I would sing 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Going On” and I remember kids in my neighborhood being like, ‘You have to stop singing the girl songs,’ and ‘You have to sing Sum 41 or Blink 182,’ and I was like, ‘No, I’ll never!’”

Elsewhere in the book, Gage writes about his love for American Idol (he’s a Kelly Clarkson stan) but also notes that he grew up loving punk and metal music, owing to his brother and stepfather’s musical tastes (in a 2022 Rolling Stone interview, Gage even revealed that he was once part of a punk band called “Reckless Youth). The actor’s brief marriage to hairdresser Chris Appleton, meantime, was officiated by Shania Twain, but it’s barely mentioned — nor a noteworthy nugget — compared to all the other juicy reveals in the book (and Gage has since apologized to Twain for “wasting her time”).

Still, Gage has always loved a pop star, and while he’s hanging with the likes of Charli XCX and Remi Wolf these days, he tells Billboard there was another pop-rock rule breaker he was obsessed with as a kid: “I loved Ashlee Simpson’s album,” he says. “When it came out, I remember knowing every single song on it.”

Gage’s memoir is available now as a 320-page hardcover book and also as an audiobook, with a run time of seven hours and 30 minutes. The actor says he encourages fans and curious folks alike to stream the audio version, to hear his big personality come to life. “I really like the Audible [version],” he says. “What I’ve been told from a lot of people that have listened to the audiobook, is that it’s a very, very different experience for them, and they find it more fun. I’ve been told it’s more fun to hear me play these different parts.”

If you want to listen to I Wrote This for Attention on audiobook, you’re in luck: Amazon is currently offering a free trial to Audible that will let you stream or download Gage’s new memoir for free. Use the for Gage’s book and you can keep it for free, even if you decide not to keep your Audible membership. The free trial also gets you unlimited listening on select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts. Pricing goes up to $14.95/month after your free trial is over.

As for where Gage sees himself in the future: “I definitely have some achievements, and I’m proud of myself for how far I’ve come,” he says, “but I still feel like I’m just beginning. I’m still auditioning for every role [and] I’m never getting offers or anything like that. I’ve definitely come a long way from when I started, but I’m still learning all the time, and I’m still learning from my peers that have done it so much longer than me. I’m excited to keep writing and to just watch the growth.”