The recent settlements between Suno, Udio and the major labels, coupled with the earlier deal this summer between ElevenLabs and Merlin/Kobalt, have been positioned as a turning point — a clean break from the chaos of unlicensed scraping into a new era of legitimacy. The message from all sides has been clear: Opt-in licensing is here, the problem is solved, and we can all move forward.
But if we’re being honest, opt-in is just the starting line.
Related
Don’t get me wrong: These deals matter. Moving from “scrape everything and sort it out later” to “get permission first” is progress.
Right now, most opt-in deals answer one question — “Do you have a license?” — but leave dozens of others unanswered. What’s actually being trained on? How is my music being used in outputs? Can users clone my voice for money on Spotify? And crucially, how do I know I’m being paid fairly when my work shows up in something generated by AI? Do these platforms even have fingerprinting or tracking to enforce their agreements?
These aren’t edge cases. They’re foundational questions, and the lack of answers is already creating friction. Look at what happened with Jorja Smith. She called out an AI-generated track that used her voice without her knowledge or consent, even though the platform in question had licensing deals in place. The system said everything was above board. The artist felt blindsided. That gap — between what a deal permits and what an artist understands or controls — is where trust breaks down.
Trust is everything. Especially now. Why? Because of all the anxiety artists are feeling about AI.
Gen Z is the most fandom-driven generation we’ve ever seen. They create, remix, edit and share. They build entire communities around the artists they love. For them, music demands participation. AI tools that empower that creativity could be transformative. But only if artists support it. Fans need to know their favorite creators genuinely support these tools, not just that they’re legally permissible.
Platforms that win long-term won’t just be the ones with licenses. They’ll be the ones artists vouch for. The ones that treat them as partners, not raw material.
So what does that actually look like in practice? A few things need to become standard, not optional.
First, stem-level attribution. If an AI system is trained on or generates music that draws from specific recordings, the platform should be able to trace that all the way through, from the training data to the output. That means both publishers and master rights holders get visibility and fair compensation. Without that infrastructure, “opt-in” is just a nicer word for opacity.
Second, meaningful creative controls. Artists should be able to set boundaries: which elements of their work can be used, in what contexts and with what limitations. A license that says “yes to everything” isn’t artist-friendly. It’s artist-exploitative.
And third, transparency in reporting. If a platform can’t show artists how their work is being used, how often and in what ways, then the relationship becomes transactional at best, and extractive at worst.
These aren’t theoretical standards. At Hook, we’ve been operating this way for over a year — building around official stems, attribution infrastructure and clear artist controls from the start. Which means every platform that launches without them is making a choice, not facing a technical limitation. Launching another platform that extracts value from artists while keeping them in the dark would just be the same old exploitation with a new interface. The question now is whether the industry has the will to demand it. The good news is that the industry is finally having this conversation. The recent settlements with Suno and Udio have forced the issue into the open. But let’s not mistake the beginning of the conversation for the end of it.
Opt-in licensing is the floor, not the ceiling. The companies that recognize that — and build accordingly — will be the ones artists trust. And in a world where fandom and creator relationships drive everything, trust becomes the entire business model.
Gaurav Sharma is the Founder & CEO of Hook, the artist-first, AI social music app that enables fans to easily create authorized remixes of popular music for use on social media while compensating rights holders for their work. Sharma has a history of successfully building emerging music technology that integrates and aligns with the needs of the larger music industry. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer for JioSaavn, India’s largest music streaming platform and one of the first platforms to secure global streaming licenses with record labels.
