Universal Music Group has signed a licensing deal with Hook, a self-styled social music app, letting users remix recordings by participating UMG artists, share them on social platforms and build fan communities around those acts.
AI barely appears in the announcement, but Hook users do use it to rework the app's million-plus tracks. The deal stresses artist control, letting rightsholders switch features such as remixing on or off, and UMG praised Hook for licensing first. Hook, backed by Waverley Capital and Khosla Ventures, raised a $10 million Series A in February.
Digital Music News reads it as more evidence the majors are splitting on AI: Sony is suing Udio, only BMG and Warner license Suno, and Universal alone partners on Spotify's planned remix add-on.
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