AI music service Udio shuts off the ability to download creations

One AI music generation service has become significantly less useful this month.

Udio has shut off the ability to download AI music creations, per The Verge. The service still exists, and users can still sign up to create AI music, but there is no way to obtain a raw file of the songs they create from the website anymore, at least not without some technical expertise. As The Verge pointed out, the terms users agree to when making a Udio account also prevent class-action lawsuits, so there isn't much that users can do about this.

Udio didn't just do this out of nowhere. Earlier this month, Udio and Universal reached a settlement related to Udio's use of copyrighted materials in training its AI. Part of this settlement was that, after a 48-hour grace period during which users could download their creations, that feature would be shut off entirely.

Udio gets to keep existing, and Universal gets to benefit monetarily from it, but users can't download their songs anymore. There are other AI music services available, such as Suno, but it would not be surprising if they end up in similar places over time as well.