The Legal Beat: UMG Settles Copyright Case With A.I. CompanyOn October 26, 2025, Universal Music Group announced it had settled a copyright case with A.I. music company Udio. The copyright infringement lawsuit was filed last year by UMG, Sony Music, Warner Music Group, and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against Udio and another A.I. company, Suno. The plaintiffs contend that A.I. companies are subject to copyright law the same as all other companies.

The plaintiffs alleged that hundreds of songs by top artists were copied. This lawsuit is one of several high-profile ones brought by copyright holders against A.I. companies for using their work.

The lawsuit was filed last year and UMG claimed that Udio committed copyright infringement on a “almost unimaginable scale” by using UMG’s recordings to train it’s A.I. models. The plaintiffs were seeking “an injunction and damages commensurate with the scope of Udio’s massive and ongoing infringement.” 

The UMG lawsuit only concerned sound recordings. However, the settlement covers music publishing as well. When the new platform launches in 2026, UMG artists and songwriters will have the chance to “opt in” and receive financial compensation for the training of A.I. model as well as its outputs.

UMG’s press release indicates: “The new subscription service will transform the user engagement experience, creating a licensed and protected environment to customize, stream, and share music responsibly on the Udio platform.”

UMG’s new platform will, for instance, allow users to create new mashups and remixes to existing licensed music. The two companies will launch the new platform next year. The settlement also includes monetary compensation for UMG, which has not been disclosed. In litigation, it is typical for a monetary settlement to be kept confidential.

Andrew Sanchez, the CEO of Udio, stated: “This moment brings to life everything we’ve been building toward—uniting A.I. and the music industry in a way that truly champions artists. Together, we’re building the technological and business landscape that will fundamentally expand what’s possible in music creation and engagement.”

Sir Lucien Grange, the Chairman of UMG, stated the settlement provisions “demonstrate our commitment to do what’s right by our artists and songwriters, whether that means embracing new technologies, developing new business models, diversifying revenue streams or beyond.”

Not many more details of the settlement are available. This settlement would seem to undermine some A.I. companies’ hopes that they could use licensed music without restriction or compensation.

UMG has also entered into agreements with what it calls “responsible” A.I.companies such as Soundlab and Klay. Warner and Sony Music are still pursuing their lawsuits against Udio and Suno.

GLENN LITWAK is a veteran entertainment attorney based in Santa Monica, CA. He has represented platinum selling recording artists, GRAMMY-winning music producers, hit songwriters, management and production companies, music publishers and independent record labels. Litwak is also a frequent speaker at music industry conferences around the country, such as South by Southwest and the Billboard Music in Film and TV Conference. Litwak has been selected as a “Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyer magazine for 2022-2025. Email Litwak at gtllaw59@gmail.com or visit glennlitwak.com.

This article is a very brief overview of the subject matter and does not constitute legal advice.The post The Legal Beat: UMG Settles Copyright Case With A.I. Company first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Google steps up AI scam protection in India, but gaps remainGoogle is expanding its real-time scam detection and screen-sharing fraud warnings in India.

Soundtoys Black Friday Sale Soundtoys have officially launched their annual Black Friday Sale, and are offering 60% or more off their entire range of pro effects software until 4 December 2025.

Ex-prosecutor denies promising not to charge FTX executive's partnerOne of the US attorneys behind the prosecution of former FTX executives testified as part of an evidentiary hearing exploring one of their plea deals.

Live Nation Moves to Dismiss DOJ Antitrust Case: What Artists, Venues & Fans Should KnowLive Nation has filed a motion for summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York asking it to dismiss the antitrust lawsuit brought by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and a coalition of states.
The post Live Nation Moves to Dismiss DOJ Antitrust Case: What Artists, Venues & Fans Should Know appeared first on Hypebot.

Wear this RISC V, RPN Calculator Watch for Maximum Nerd CredOnce upon a time, owning a calculator watch was the epitome of cool. Well, for a very specific subset of the population with our own definition of “cool” anyway. The only thing cooler than wearing a calculator watch? Making a calculator watch, of course! If you do it as part of developing your own SDK for a popular RISC V microcontroller, all the better. That’s what [Miroslav Nemecek] did with his Antcalc watch, which is one of the demo projects for the CH32Lib SDK, which is currently under development at version 0.35 as this is written.
It appears as though the solid core wire on the back of the homemade PCB is used to hold the watch band, a nice little hack.
As you might guess, CH32LibSDK is targeting the super-cheap CH32 series of RISC V microcontrollers. Perhaps because the SDK is so early in development, there’s not much documentation outside of the example projects. The examples are all worth looking at, but our tipster wanted us to cover the Antcalc calculator watch specifically.
The Antcalc watch uses the SOP16-packaged CH32V002A4M6 to drive a small OLED display while taking input in Reverse Polish Notation from a dozen small buttons. We’re not sure how the cool kids feel about RPN these days, but that’s got to be worth extra nerd cred. Using a RISC V chip doesn’t hurt in that department, either.
For something so small– 30 mm x 55 mm–it’s looks like a decent little calculator, with 10 registers holding a mantissa of 21 digits and exponents up-to +/-99 in binary coded decimal. Seven layers on the dozen-key input pad mean most of the scientific functions you could ask for are available, along with the ability to record and replay upto 10 macros. There are also ten memory slots, all of which go into the chip’s onboard flash so are non-volatile during a battery swap. (Of which many will be necessary, since this appears to run on a single coin cell.)
If you get bored of wrist-mounted calculating, you could always repurpose this microcontroller to play MOD files on your wrist. Some people couldn’t imagine ever getting bored by a wrist-mounted calculator, and just for them we have this teardown of a beautiful 1975 model and a this article on the history of the calculator watch.
Thanks to [James Bowman] for the tip.

Roland release Earth Electric Piano The latest addition to Roland’s ever-growing collection of virtual instruments collates a diverse range of electric piano sounds and brings them together in a single interface.

Live Nation files motion to end US’s antitrust lawsuitLive Nation says the DoJ’s case against the company is based on 'gerrymandered' evidence that doesn’t meet the criteria for monopoly power
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Parallel Touch Audio THAT VISION - EDM Sample PackTHAT VISION - EDM Sample Pack Parallel Touch Audio proudly presents THAT VISION, 974 Samples built for the new era of Electronic Dance Music. Inspired by the sound of Skrillex and the next wave of boundary-breaking Music Producers, THAT VISION is one of the most versatile EDM Sample Packs on the market, offering unique sound design and immaculate vibes. Content: A total of 974 samples, comprising 294 loops and 680 one-shots, delivering 1.05 GB of high-quality content. 204 Glitches One Shots 93 Drum Loops 84 Bass One Shots 51 Synth Loops 51 Snare One Shots 45 Claps One Shots 43 FX One Shots 43 Percussion One Shots 41 Songstarters Loops 41 Kick One Shots 38 Bass Loops 33 Textures One Shots 28 Percussion Loops 27 Rythmic Loops 27 Synth One Shots 22 FX Risers One Shots 22 Hat One Shots 17 FX Downers One Shots 15 808 One Shots 12 Top Loops 12 FX Impacts One Shots 11 Crash One Shots 5 Ride One Shots 5 Top Kicks One Shots 4 Build Ups Loops THAT VISION was created with the intent to blend grit, catchy sounds, allowing both high level Songwriting and Sound Design. Technical Info: By Industry Standard, all the samples are exported in 24-bit WAV format and normalized to -1db, ensuring optimal sound quality, efficient workflow, and consistent levels across every sample in the pack. All loops are perfectly grid-aligned. Simply drag-and-drop in your DAW and start creating. Naming procedure follows Splice's naming guidelines, both for folders and for files. Read More

Save over $1,000 on this classic Korg synth: the early Black Friday deals have arrived at ReverbWith Black Friday deals often kicking off before 28 November, it can get a little tricky to keep track of the best offers around. But don’t fear, MusicTech is here – and we’ve already spotted a bunch of great savings on marketplace Reverb.
Each year we round up all of the best Black Friday and Cyber Weekend finds, and over at Reverb, there’s some exciting deals from some huge names. There are currently three Arturia goodies up for grabs, as well as deals on Korg, Yamaha, and Dexibell.

READ MORE: You could get over £8,000 of Warm Audio microphones for under £200 in this unbelievable Reverb deal

So, if there’s a music maker and gear-obsessive in your life, we’ve got you covered. There’s also no shame in treating yourself to an early festive prezzie, either. It’s not even December yet, after all. We’ve listed its top deals below for you, and we’re kicking things off with three great Arturia offers…
Arturia AstroLab 88 – save $120
This future-ready stage keyboard has an 88-key hammer-action keybed, over 1600 stage-ready presets, and offers deep integration with Arturia’s ecosystem. Users can integrate a vast range of custom sounds through its Analog Lab plugin, V Collection suite, and Pigments soft synth. It’s also built using aluminium and bakelite to ensure solid sturdiness and portability. In this deal, you can save $120, as it’s now reduced to $2,279.99. No laptop is required.
[deals ids=”1vSO4UL7gHEbxUuFITOeby”]

Arturia DrumBrute Impact 1984 – save 20%
The DrumBrute was given a retro-inspired makeover earlier this year, and there’s 20 percent knocked off this mint-condition one on Reverb – taking it down to just $239.20. It delivers “beefy, Brute-powered sound”, as Arturia says, and offers per-voice colour controls, built-in analogue distortion, and polyrhythmic sequencing. There’s also a 64-step sequencer, 10 drum sounds, and can be used via MIDI or USB, making it perhaps the perfect way to integrate retro beats into your studio setup.
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Arturia MINIBRUTE 2 (noir edition) – save 10%
Another Arturia goodie with a unique makeover is this noir edition MINIBRUTE2. This semi-modular 25-key analogue synth features Brute oscillators, an acidic Steiner-Parker filter, and the signature “mayhem-inducing” Brute Factor knob loved by fans. With 10 percent off, it’s down to $296.10.
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KORG Nautilus 88 – save over $1,000!
Korg’s Nautilus gives players the “sound quality and capability” of its Kronos workstation in a streamlined, Japanese-made performance synth. It has the power of Kronos’ nine sound engines, a lightweight design, and up to 14 simultaneous effects and 32 simultaneous EQs – just to name a few key features. There’s also over $1,000 in bonus EXS sound libraries, fully featured onboard sampling and HD audio recording.
Not only is this a solid investment, but it currently has over $1,000 knocked off its price. You can get your hands on this one for $1,399.99.
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Yamaha MONTAGE-M8x – save $675
Second-hand but in certified mint condition, this M8x is one of three MONTAGE-M models, and exclusively offers a GEX action keyboard with Polyphonic Aftertouch. It has three engines for vintage analogue, FM, and realistic instrument sounds, plus a Motion Control engine. It also boasts 400-note polyphony, 10GB of ROM preset memory, 88 keys and polyphonic aftertouch. Save over $600, as this one is now priced at $3,824.99.
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Dexibell VIVO S8 Stage Piano – save $600
This 88-key stage piano features a graded hammer action keyboard with ivory feel keys and a quad-core processor (4x Faster Loading and 2x CPU Speed). It’s got 3.2 GB of memory, 180 sounds, a dedicated organ sound engine, and programmable outputs. There’s also unlimited polyphony at 24-bit /48 kHz audio quality, as well as 12 studio-quality effects, Bluetooth audio and MIDI support. You can grab it now for $2,399.99, saving you $600.
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And that concludes our Reverb round up (for now!). Reverb has introduced a lot of changes on its platform as of late – all following its return to independence – which are intended to make buying and selling a smoother experience. It’s launched a newly revamped version of the Reverb Wallet, and lower seller fees for those in the UK.
The Black Friday sale ends on 1 December. View more early deals via Reverb.
The post Save over $1,000 on this classic Korg synth: the early Black Friday deals have arrived at Reverb appeared first on MusicTech.

DAWJunkie releases FREE DSS-130SE plugin based on the Yamaha PSS-130 keyboard
DAWJunkie has released DSS-130SE, a free sample-based plugin inspired by the Yamaha PSS-130 keyboard for macOS and Windows. I’m always on the lookout for plugins that bring these quirky 1980s consumer keyboards into the DAW world, and DSS-130SE is exactly that kind of freebie. The original Yamaha PSS-130 came out in 1987. From the modern [...]
View post: DAWJunkie releases FREE DSS-130SE plugin based on the Yamaha PSS-130 keyboard

EVEN powers direct to fan sales, data BEFORE streaming releaseDirect to fan platform EVEN powers direct to fan sales and fan data capture before streaming release. A deceptively simple proposition that rewards fans while providing much needed pre-streaming income, Even is gaining real traction.
The post EVEN powers direct to fan sales, data BEFORE streaming release appeared first on Hypebot.

Cymatics will release Pandora plugin and Shrine sound library for FREE on November 26th
Cymatics will release Pandora, a virtual instrument plugin, and the Shrine R&B Collection sound library on November 26th. You can sign up today to claim your free copy. So, Cymatics is gearing up for Black Friday with a pretty cool giveaway. You can claim their upcoming instrument plugin, Pandora, and a new sound library for [...]
View post: Cymatics will release Pandora plugin and Shrine sound library for FREE on November 26th

The Crow Hill Company releases Dulcet Vocal as part of the FREE Vaults series
Part of their free Vaults series, Dulcet Vocal is the little sister plugin of The Crow Hill Company’s Dulcet Voice, featuring Dot Alison. Dot Alison is a Scottish singer, songwriter, and composer with a wealth of experience spanning the stage, studio, and film. If you aren’t familiar with Dot’s ethereal vocals, you can hear her [...]
View post: The Crow Hill Company releases Dulcet Vocal as part of the FREE Vaults series

Why alt-pop producer Sophia Stel turned a nightclub basement into a music studio“I started to feel like I was stuck…and I found it very difficult to finish songs,” says Canadian alt-pop star Sophia Stel, who transformed the downstairs of a Vancouver nightclub into a makeshift studio to craft her second EP.

READ MORE: BlackGummy: “People get caught up in rules about mixing, loudness or arrangement but creativity doesn’t follow a formula”

Considering that the producer, vocalist and songwriter could have elevated to working in flashy spaces following the viral success of her TikTok sleeper hit I’ll Take It – especially as it led to the alt-pop artist supporting PC Music king A.G. Cook, and counting Troye Sivan and Megan Skiendiel of KATSEYE among her fans – Stel’s decision to take such a DIY approach is commendable. However, for her, it felt totally natural.
Having cut her teeth in Vancouver’s local music scene (and juggled gardening jobs and painting houses while making tracks in her bedroom), the skating fan’s decision to turn part of the now-closed Paradise into a creative space made sense – especially as she had worked at the small after-hours spot in her home city for nearly five years.
“I needed somewhere I could be loud,” she explains.
Image: Press
The self-written, self-produced and self-recorded EP, How to Win At Solitaire, is a sonic mix of drowsy shoegaze, electronic pop and rave-y beats. “I knew that Paradise wasn’t open during the weekdays and no one was there, so I thought it was perfect,” Stel adds.
Stel wasn’t the only employee at Paradise — it was ‘a second job’ for other creatives, too. Her co-workers quickly became her close friends and collaborators, and the owners eventually allowed Stel to record music there, free of charge, when the venue wasn’t in use.
So, Stel would work late, set up the studio after each club night, tear it down again when they’d have to use it, and then repeat the process. Though such disassembling and rebuilding was laborious, she found it easy to transform the dungeon-like space.
This was undoubtedly helped by her “quite simple set-up”, which encompassed an Aston Origin microphone, an Apollo Twin Duo interface, a MacBook Pro 14-inch, studio monitors, a microKORG, a Squier Stratocaster electric guitar, and four guitar pedals.
Image: Press
However, she says she couldn’t really install anything permanent — “I had to take it all down for the club to open every week,” she says. Bearing in mind that this would happen the following morning after she’d finish a shift in the early hours, Stel remained impressively committed. “Each club night, I’d work until 4 AM, then I’d clean up the bar, and the next day, I would come and set up the studio,” she recalls.
With so much free rein, Stel liked that she was able to switch things up from day to day: “I had a pretty good system going, and I didn’t mind doing that, because I could bring in different equipment if I wanted to,” she recalls. “And I was always able to set things up fresh and how I wanted.”
As Stel usually makes music at home, it was a case of replicating that comfort in the club’s basement. “It was honestly the same as my normal studio set-up, but just in a different setting,“ she says. There was one key benefit, though: “I was able to play everything as loud as I wanted to, which makes a huge difference”.
Image: Press
When it came to working on the bones of the six songs that would later form the EP, she had a specific sonic direction in mind. She doesn’t quite know how to describe it, however — “It was more of a feeling,” she suggests. Nonetheless, the space in which it was recorded had a big impact on its sound. “It was very big and empty, so I think you can hear that on the project,” she says.
While the new experience of working in a makeshift studio was not only “very fun at first” but “exciting and cathartic” too, it came with its challenges. Chief among them was consistent, interfering noise from airways – “no matter how hard I tried to turn them all off”, says Stel.
Things got progressively harder as she struggled to finish songs and began feeling somewhat stuck in the basement. However, having her friends regularly pop by for a cigarette and to hear the songs as she was working on them helped to combat this. “That was really cool, and encouraging,” she says, adding that spending long nights there working (and partying) spurred her on.
Image: Press
Recording in such a DIY way also affirmed what Stel already knew of herself: “it taught me that I can work anywhere”. This approach also made her realise one important aspect. “Mostly, it taught me that I need somewhere that I can play music loud,” she says, adding that this is especially true when it comes to recording guitar.
Having enjoyed the time at Paradise – so much so that footage from the last party there before it shut down in March is heavily featured in the video for one of the EP’s singles, Taste – Stel says she would return given the chance.
“It’s sad that it’s closed now, but I’d do it again there,” she enthuses. “Even if I had a million dollars.”
‘How to Win At Solitaire’ is out now. Sophia Stel tours the UK and Europe throughout this month.
The post Why alt-pop producer Sophia Stel turned a nightclub basement into a music studio appeared first on MusicTech.