The First Industry-Wide AI Music Licensing Deals Just Set a Precedent for Your Publishing
The NMPA struck licensing agreements with AI music platforms Udio and Klay for training use, with a 50/50 split between songs and recordings. Independent publishers can opt in. Here is what the deal structure means for songwriters.
Short answer
On June 10, 2026, the National Music Publishers' Association announced the first industry-wide licensing agreements with major AI music platforms: Udio and Klay. The deals cover the use of published music for AI model training and generation, with revenue split 50/50 between song rights (publishing) and recording rights (masters). By contrast, streaming typically pays recordings more than three times what songs receive. NMPA members could review and join the Udio deal starting June 15. Independent publishers who are NMPA members can opt in to receive royalties under the deal's rate structure; non-members are not covered. The deals follow settlements between AI platforms and Warner Music Group (November 2025), independent licensing body Merlin (January 2026), and Kobalt (April 2026), suggesting AI licensing is becoming a structural part of music rights administration rather than a one-time dispute.
Key takeaways
- On June 10, 2026, the NMPA announced the first industry-wide licensing agreements with AI music platforms Udio and Klay, covering the use of published music for AI model training and generation.
- Both deals split AI licensing income 50/50 between song rights (publishing) and recording rights (masters). Streaming typically pays recordings more than three times what songs receive.
- NMPA members in good standing can opt in to the Udio deal from June 15. Independent publishers who are NMPA members can participate. Non-members are not covered by this specific deal.
- The deals follow AI licensing settlements with Warner Music Group (November 2025), Merlin (January 2026), and Kobalt (April 2026), suggesting this is becoming a structural part of rights administration.
What happened?
On June 10, 2026, the National Music Publishers’ Association announced what it calls the music industry’s first industry-wide licensing agreements with AI music generation platforms: Udio and Klay. Both platforms pay to license published music for AI training and platform use, rather than face the copyright claims that have followed Suno and Udio in earlier court filings.
NMPA president David Israelite called it a “landmark” set of deals. Combined with AI-related settlements negotiated in the past fiscal year, the NMPA says it has distributed approximately $110 million to its members.
Distributed to NMPA members from AI-related deals in the past fiscal year
Split between song rights and recording rights in both deals
How much more streaming typically pays recordings vs songs
Date NMPA members could begin opting into the Udio deal
The deals do not resolve the active copyright lawsuits against Udio filed by major labels. Those cases continue in parallel. What the NMPA agreements do is create a licensed path forward for publishers and their affiliated songwriters, separate from the litigation.
The 50/50 split and why it matters
Streaming royalties heavily favor recording rights over publishing rights. The rough ratio is about 75-80% of streaming income going to whoever holds the master recording, with 20-25% going to the song’s publishers and songwriters. That imbalance has been a long-standing complaint from songwriters who write for other artists or who self-release but value the composition royalty separately.
Streaming rates vary by platform and deal. The typical ratio heavily favors recordings over songs. The NMPA AI deals flip this toward parity.
The NMPA AI deals use a 50/50 split: half to the song, half to the recording. That is not necessarily more money in total, because the overall licensing pool depends on what Udio and Klay are actually paying. But it sets a precedent for how AI licensing income divides between the two sides of music rights. If this ratio becomes the norm for AI licensing, songwriters stand to gain a meaningfully larger share of AI revenue than they do from streaming.
What this means if you write your own songs
If you are a self-releasing artist who writes your own music, you hold both the recording and the composition. Under a 50/50 AI licensing structure, you would receive both sides of any licensed royalty, rather than the majority going to one rights type.
Whether those royalties actually reach you depends on whether your publishing rights are affiliated with the NMPA through a publisher or publishing administrator. The NMPA represents publishers, not songwriters directly. If you have no publishing administrator and are not affiliated with the NMPA, you are not covered by this specific deal structure.
| Covered | Not covered by this deal | |
|---|---|---|
| Who qualifies | NMPA member publishers and their affiliated songwriters | Unaffiliated songwriters with no publishing administrator or NMPA-affiliated publisher |
| What you need to do | Review the deal terms via NMPA and decide whether to opt in | Consider whether a publishing administrator or direct NMPA affiliation makes sense for your catalog |
| Which rights are covered | Song (composition) rights administered by NMPA-affiliated publishers | Recording rights. Those go through separate deals with labels or Merlin. |
Recording rights are separate
The NMPA deals cover publishing (song) rights. If you also own your master recording, that is a separate rights track. Merlin, which represents independent distributors and labels, settled with AI platforms in January 2026. Whether your recordings are covered by that or a similar deal depends on your distribution arrangement, not on NMPA membership.
What to do now
If you have a publishing administrator
Ask your publisher or publishing admin whether they are an NMPA member and whether they are opting into the Udio or Klay deals. If they are, find out what rate applies to your works and how royalties will be reported. The NMPA says members were contacted directly after June 15 with deal specifics.
If you self-administer your publishing
Look into whether a publishing administrator with NMPA affiliation makes sense for your catalog. The main value of publishing administration has always been collection across more royalty lanes. AI licensing is now another lane. That may change the calculus for some songwriters who have been handling everything themselves.
What is still unclear?
Open questions
The NMPA has not published the specific per-use rates or total deal values for the Udio and Klay agreements. “First industry-wide deal” means first of its kind, not necessarily the largest or the most favorable terms. It is also not clear how many independent publishers will opt in, or how songwriters affiliated with those publishers will be notified and paid. The active copyright lawsuits against Udio by major labels are separate and ongoing. A licensing deal between the NMPA and Udio does not resolve those label claims, and it is possible the overall litigation outcome reshapes what these deals look like if courts rule against the AI platforms.
Sources
- Music Business Worldwide: Music publishers strike AI licensing deals with Udio and KLAY as NMPA reveals 'landmark' industry-wide pacts
- Billboard: NMPA Inks Deals With Udio and KLAY, Marking First Industry-Wide Licensing Pacts With Major AI Music Firms
- Digital Music News: NMPA Brokers Industry-Wide Publishing Licenses with Udio, Klay Media
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