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MAKE PLAY MUSIC

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ARTISTS & LABELS

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This week's Weekly Drop covers Universal Music's new AI deal with ElevenLabs, fresh funding to apply for, an artist to watch and this week's charts.

Universal Music just signed a major AI licensing deal, landing the same week Suno relaunched with major label backing too. Here is what happened, who is applying for what, and what is worth a listen this week.

THE STORY OF THE WEEK

Universal Music Group has signed a multi-year deal with ElevenLabs to build an AI platform where fans can remix tracks by participating artists, with UMG calling it opt-in and artist-paid. It's ElevenLabs' first major label deal, landing days after Suno relaunched with Warner, BMG and Believe's backing. Together, the two deals suggest majors are choosing to license their way into AI rather than keep fighting it in court.

THE HEADLINES

Suno relaunched its AI music models this week with Warner Music, BMG and Believe on board, the first version built on licensed catalogue rather than scraped data.

Yorkshire techno producer Blawan announced a new EP, Gi Mi Keys Back / Auto Fake, arriving via XL Recordings on 25 September.

Legendary Paris club Silencio is opening a six month pop-up inside Berlin's former Watergate space to mark its fifteenth anniversary.

ARTIST TO WATCH

One name worth knowing from this year's Mixmag watchlist is MOKOTRON, an Aotearoa producer channelling Māori spiritual themes and Indigenous futurism through club ready electronic music. It is a genuinely different angle in a scene that can feel crowded with similar sounding techno right now, built on ideas rather than just another drum pattern. Worth keeping an eye on, especially for anyone programming or booking further afield than the usual circuit.

LABEL SPOTLIGHT

XL Recordings has spent over a decade letting Blawan make exactly the record he wants to make, whether that is a stripped back techno banger or a full album detour into something stranger. It is paying off again with his new EP landing this month, timed neatly around a live show at London's Outernet. A good reminder that the labels artists stay loyal to for the long haul are usually the ones that back instinct over trend.

OPEN NOW

Two UK funding deadlines are worth diarising if you're eligible and moving fast this month.

Help Musicians x DJ Mag's Electronic Music Award: up to £3,000 plus mentorship for UK electronic artists, deadline 25 September.

Youth Music's NextGen Fund: up to £3,000 for music projects supporting under-25s, deadline 25 September.

PRS Foundation's Open Fund for Music Creators: up to £5,000 for creators of any genre or career stage, check the current deadline on their site.

The Music Export Growth Scheme: up to 50% match funding for labels taking an artist's campaign abroad, open on a rolling basis through March 2027.

ON THE CHARTS

Mau P's Just A Little Bit More holds the top spot on this week's Beatport chart, while Movin' to the Sun by HUGEL, Imael Angel and Ultra Naté continues to lead the Official UK Dance Singles Chart for a second straight week. Elsewhere in the top 20, ANOTR and 54 Ultra's Talk to You and Cloonee and Prospa's Free Your Mind are both holding steady across both charts.

WORK WITH MPM

If you are a label or manager thinking about marketing or campaign support for an upcoming release, get in touch via our contact page. We would love to help plan the next one.

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