Hook, AI-Powered Music Remixing App, Strikes UMG Deal as It Takes Social-Forward Approach to Fan-Created Remixes (EXCLUSIVE)

In a music landscape increasingly reshaped by AI-driven generation tools, a social-first remixing app is carving out a distinct niche—and it just landed a major-label partnership to cement its position. Hook, a platform that lets fans create 60-second remixes or mashups of licensed tracks for sharing on TikTok, Instagram, and other social channels, has inked a licensing agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG). The deal grants Hook access to a broad swath of UMG’s catalog, spanning sublabels like Republic Records, Capitol Records, and Virgin Music Group, among others, giving fans a rich library of material to reimagine.

The agreement deepens a relationship that has been years in the making, with UMG reportedly pushing Hook to refine its product experience before signing off on the collaboration. Gaurav Sharma, Hook’s CEO, emphasized that artists retain full control over how their work is used on the platform. “Everything created on Hook, the artists have full control around the security needs that they have adhered to,” he told Variety. “All the things that we had to do in figuring out streaming back in 2010 is effectively what we spent the last two years working on with UMG. So the idea of these sorts of licenses are possible through collaboration. It doesn’t need to be artists, labels, tech companies fighting each other.” That sentiment marks a sharp contrast to the contentious legal battles unfolding elsewhere in the industry, such as UMG and Sony Music’s ongoing copyright infringement lawsuits against Suno, an AI music generator.

Since its 2024 launch, Hook has positioned itself as a counterpoint to generative AI platforms like Suno and Udio, which create new music from scratch. Instead of generating tracks, Hook allows fans to apply filters and edits to existing songs, producing “Hooks” that can be layered onto personal videos. Artists retain ownership of their music and earn revenue from its use, a model that Sharma says prioritizes fandom and social engagement over algorithmic novelty. The platform has already partnered with labels like Glassdoor Records and Downtown Music, and its roster includes tracks from Justin Bieber, Teddy Swims, the Weeknd, Ty Dolla $ign, Kendrick Lamar, and Charli xcx—a lineup the UMG deal will substantially broaden, though neither company has disclosed which new artists will be added.

Michael Nash, UMG’s executive vice president and chief digital officer, framed the partnership as a response to shifting fan behavior, noting that social media has become a primary arena for interacting with music—a space that has been “significantly under monetized and substantially disrupted by short format.” He added, “We’re eager to collaborate with innovators that are targeting purpose-built technology to go after some of the predominant use cases that empirically exist right now in the social sphere. Invoking Oscar Wilde here, if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then perhaps co-creation is one of the sincerest forms of fandom.” The deal aligns with UMG’s broader strategy, which includes a legal settlement with Udio and a May agreement with Spotify to power that platform’s AI remixing and covers features. Nash described these as “extremely complementary partnerships” within UMG’s “partnership portfolio approach.”

Hook’s backers include Khosla Ventures, Point72, Imaginary Ventures, and Waverley Capital, the latter led by former Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. Bronfman, who has been vocal about the pitfalls of generative AI, sees Hook as a bridge between technology and artistic intent. “That, I think, is very different than what I would call sort of generative AI or AI slop, which is just music’s [that’s] been written, and some AI algorithm changes it up,” he told Variety. “I don’t think that’s a lasting phenomenon. I think people care about artists. They want to go see artists. They believe in artists, and artists believe in them.” Bronfman declined to comment on WMG’s settlement with Suno, leaving that matter to the labels. For Sharma, the Spotify deal serves as “validation” of Hook’s approach. “Hook is focused on social, on community-driven creation and consumption,” he said. “When a user creates on Hook and they share to their TikTok, and these creations also exist within communities on Hook, tied to the activities, the feelings expressed in the larger [user-generated content] that that person made. So when we say social music, it’s not just the music; it’s the larger expression that the person has with the video and everything else around it… I believe that people will go to Spotify to hear how artists express themselves through music, and our hope is Hook can be that destination where people hear how social media expresses through music.”