Lucian Grainge is going on the offensive as an AI wave washes over the music industry

Karan Singh for BI; Rainer Hosch/UMG

Grainge, the CEO of Universal Music Group, is going on offense when preparing the major label for an AI wave in music. The head of one of the world's biggest record labels doesn't shy away from the tech. For example, he's working with YouTube on its "music AI incubator," a program that brings together talent from Universal to gather insights for YouTube's generative AI research. He's setting up AI deals with Endel, SoundLabs, and BandLab. He's partnering with the AI attribution tool ProRata.ai to lay the groundwork to pay content owners for AI-generated materials. The executive also isn't afraid to go to battle over unauthorized generative AI, suing Anthropic and AI music platforms like Suno and Udio around training data, as well as publicly fighting for AI protections in licensing contracts with distributors like TikTok and Meta.