Universal Music Group Sues Music Distributor Over Fake AI Songs

Universal Music Group (UMG), one of the biggest music companies in the world, has filed a lawsuit against DistroKid, a company that helps musicians get their songs onto streaming platforms. UMG says DistroKid has been allowing huge amounts of fake, AI-made music to flood services like Spotify and Apple Music. The label argues this fake music steals listeners and money from real, working artists. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the state of Delaware.

UMG is calling the AI-made songs 'slop' — a word it uses to describe low-quality content made quickly by computers instead of real people. The company says DistroKid promised to only share music that was original and owned by its users, but did not do enough to keep bad actors out. One example in the lawsuit is a user called 'Lofi Chill,' who uploaded 4,562 songs in a single year. UMG says no real human musician could release music that fast, which is a sign the tracks were made by AI.

DistroKid was started in 2013 and is based in New York. It lets independent artists upload their music to more than 150 platforms for a yearly fee. A private equity firm called CVC Capital Partners recently agreed to buy a large share of the company, and music streaming giant Spotify owns a smaller share. DistroKid did not respond when asked for a comment about the lawsuit.

UMG also says DistroKid spreads other types of illegal music, not just AI songs. This includes remixes and sped-up versions of popular songs that were made without permission, stolen album cover art, and hit songs with new voices recorded over the original music. The label says all of this activity misleads music fans into thinking they are supporting real artists, when they are actually sending money to bots and copyright cheaters.

This is not the first time UMG has gone after a music distributor. In 2024, it filed a $500-million lawsuit against TuneCore and its parent company, Believe, over similar problems. That case was settled in April. UMG has also been growing its own music distribution business, paying $775 million to buy Downtown Music Holdings, which owns the distributors CD Baby and FUGA.

The music industry is still figuring out how to handle AI-generated songs on streaming platforms. Spotify and Apple Music have started labeling tracks that were made by AI. Tidal, another streaming service, went even further in July by cutting off royalty payments for songs it determines were made entirely by AI. These steps show that the debate over AI in music is far from over.

Even UMG itself has been making deals with AI companies. Over the past two years, it has signed agreements with companies like Udio, Nvidia, Stability AI, and most recently ElevenLabs. Many of those deals came after legal battles first. UMG, along with Sony and Warner, sued Udio and another AI company called Suno in 2024, saying they trained their AI on copyrighted recordings without permission. UMG settled with Udio, but its case against Suno is still ongoing.