On October 29, 2025, without warning, Udio disabled downloads for all its free users and subscribers. In an attempt to supposedly appease all sides, Udio settled with Universal Music Group, one of the major record label companies, and will become a streaming-only platform that lets you remix your "favorite artists" and use their voices. A new, officially licensed music model is in the works and will likely replace 1.0 and 1.5.

As you could guess, there was an uproar, and Udio was swamped with angry emails and legal threats. It was then decided that a 48-hour window would be put into place, starting from Novemeber 3 at 11:00 AM (EST) until November 5 at 10:59 AM, allowing you to download the music you generated/edited/extended before October 29.

I'm not sure what either the Udio team or the fat cats at UMG were thinking, but pulling the rug out from under your customers' feet is not an ethical (or legal) business practice. Thankfully, I didn't have hundreds or thousands of songs to download, but a lot of people weren't so lucky.

I have no interest in remixing big-name artists' songs and most other Udio users don't either, but I intend to stick around to see how this all plays out. I did receive a partial refund as requested. Others requested full refunds, but I refrained because, despite Udio claiming that our old songs were bound to the old Terms of Service and not the new, I can't trust them not to turn around and say, "Hey, you didn't pay for that music you generated while you were on this plan, so you better take it down or UMG will sue you into oblivion.”

I'm almost certain this is not the vision that the developers of Udio originally had in mind. It's the fact that UMG has much more money to burn and can afford to drag out a lawsuit. It's all about money and always has been.

While the settlement doesn't set a legal precedent, this is not good news for anyone except the big-name artists, some of whom contribute less to the making of their music than someone who only uses AI. Yes, I dare said it, and it's not even an exaggeration: many pop idols don't write most of their songs, let alone produce them. Sabrina Carpenter's job is to look pretty and act the part.

You could say, "Well, at least there are humans collaborating with each other!" Except they're all collaborating in an effort to create music that brings in the money. Their goal is capitalistic, not humanistic. There is less humanity in pop music than a Suno-made song that some guy generated with his high school poetry.

This is the problem with Big Music that can be said for all corporations: greed. Wanting to own every note, chord, sound, arrangement, etc. Big Music isn't against AI. Oh, no. Big Music wants to own AI, and that's exactly what UMG is doing with Udio. And yet, many anti-AI are celebrating! As if they will reap the benefits and protections of the label companies! Maybe Taylor Swift will, but you, an independent artist, will not. If Big Music wants to steal from you, Big Music will, and if you don't have the cash to beat them in court, you're shit out of luck.

Copyright serves and protects the wealthy. It's a scourge on art and culture. Yes, we need certain protections in place for artists under our current economic system, but between the gluttonous corporations and the willful ignorance of temporarily embarrassed millionaire creators, it's tempting to just go full tankie and root for China to bury the US in its copyright-loving bullshit. In other words, I'm growing a lot less sympathetic to traditional artists' woes, because they would rather see Big Music rule than let some average Joes make music with Suno, or even an open-source model. It's almost MAGA levels of stupid and selfish.

I will sympathize this much: for-profit companies training AI models on artists' works without explicit consent is scummy. It's neither theft nor plagiarism, and was in fact ruled fair use, twice, but you could argue it's taking advantage of the commons. This is why I do not monetize my AI-assisted works.

That said, when you share your work on the public-facing Internet, you can't expect to have total control over how others decide to use it. Additionally, by uploading to websites like Instagram and YouTube, you are granting them permission to use your work in ways that you might not actually agree with, if you can be bothered to read through all the legal jargon in their Terms of Service. If you don't want anyone messing with your art, put it behind a paywall.

A world where AI is exclusive to big corporations with self-serving interests is not a world anyone wants, but by cheering on greedy companies like UMG, we are heading in exactly that direction.

I'm heartbroken that Udio, which had the clearest audio and most realistic instruments of all the current music generators, will be controlled by Big Music, but that doesn't mean other quality (and open-source) generators won't continue popping up.

Since my music is mostly electronic, I'm not too distraught about losing Udio. I've found that Sonauto is a close alternative, and it's completely free to use (for now), excluding access to the API that requires a subscription. There are also Suno and Producer AI, though they're best for generating billboard-modern music. ACE-Step, DiffRhythm, and SongBloom are a few open-source alternatives, but I haven't tried them.

I also purchased a DAW! And I'm kind of in love with it. Someone described RipX as a "coloring book," but it's more like Kid Pix for me. Here is one video showing you just how fun it is. I'll be playing with it, for sure.

Does this mean I'll finally be learning an instrument? Maybe someday... in the future. Maybe never. I mean, with Suno Studio, you can generate different instruments for your songs and edit them. Takes the tediousness out of making music note by note for people like me.

Look, I'm a collage artist. I don't make art from scratch. I cheat. I chop up and stitch together. I'm a "work smarter, not harder" bastard who takes the path of least resistance. I'm not doing what I do to impress anyone or to build an audience. If I cared about those things, I sure as hell wouldn't be on Neocities, where most folks are anti-AI.

Anyway, fuck Big Music, always download your shit, and know your rights as a consumer.