The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) has unveiled two “groundbreaking deals” with AI music companies Udio and Klay.
NMPA president and CEO David Israelite confirmed that the Udio partnership is the first ever industry-wide licensing deal with a major AI music company, as well as being the first that will value songs and sound recordings equally when it comes to AI training.
Klay is one of very few companies to secure licenses prior to launching its platform. Klay’s Large Music Model will be trained entirely on licensed music and the deal with NMPA will launch later this summer.
It follows a series of music licensing deals for both Udio and Klay.
We are here to fight for what makes art meaningful – authentic human inspiration
David Israelite
Speaking at the NMPA’s annual meeting at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in New York City, Israelite also warned against the growing threats of streaming fraud that have been exponentially amplified by AI.
To combat these threats and address other critical AI-related issues, Israelite announced an AI Songs Summit that will take place in Nashville this autumn. The summit will bring together music publishers, PROs and songwriter groups to create industry alignment on the issue.
“The challenges posed by AI are massive and evolving,” said David Israelite. “However, we are taking a holistic approach to confronting them… great music will never be mass produced by machines. We are here to fight for what makes art meaningful – authentic human inspiration.”
FOLLOW 
