October 10, 2026
DistroKid quietly removes songs over UMG lawsuit; musicians complain of no warning
In its lawsuit, UMG names about 1,000 recordings distributed through DistroKid. The service confirmed to The Verge that the takedowns are a response to these claims.
UMG Recordings, Capitol Records and Capitol CMG call DistroKid the creator of an “AI-slop pipeline”: a pipeline that, they say, lets a flood of AI music that infringes copyright reach streaming services. Until then, it was a dispute between a label and a service.
Artists post on social media. Now the consequences have reached musicians: according to their complaints, their works were removed without notice.
Next, the most important thing is DistroKid's response to the lawsuit: it will determine whether the recordings named in it come back.