UMG is the first major label to license TYGER, which uses AI to make songs react to gameplay

Universal Music Group just licensed its music to TYGER, a San Diego app that makes songs react to what you do in a video game. The deal was announced on October 22, 2026, and both companies say UMG is the first major music company to license TYGER.

Select recordings and songs from UMG’s recorded music and publishing catalogs are coming to TYGER’s paid, on-demand subscription. Some UMG recordings will also play on the free, ad-supported tier. Neither company has given a date for the songs or a figure for the deal.

Today TYGER’s library holds more than 400,000 songs, mostly from independent artists.

What does TYGER’s AI actually do to a licensed UMG song?

TYGER’s AI changes how an existing recording plays. It doesn’t write new songs, and CEO Nick Venti says so plainly on the company’s stance on generative AI: “we don’t make AI-generated music.”

The engine takes the artist’s track and reshapes it as your match changes. TYGER’s AI DJ explainer lists 3 moves:

• It drops the vocals when you need to focus.
• It strips the song down to drums and bass while the tension builds.
• It jumps to the song’s biggest moment when you land a headshot or win the round.

In the app, each game event gets its own settings. A kill can call up a chosen part of the track and set levels for bass, drums, vocals and the rest of the mix.

TYGER calls this its patented technology, and the press release says it needs no integration from game studios. In Venti’s words, “The music stays the artist’s.”

How do you use TYGER today, and what does it cost?

Right now TYGER is a desktop app on the Overwolf app store, so it runs on PC only. The press release says TYGER is built for PC, console and mobile, but console and mobile aren’t live yet.

You install it, pick your game and switch Adaptive Music on. Adaptive audio works in Fortnite, Valorant, Apex Legends, Rainbow Six and others. In any other game, TYGER plays music like a normal player.

The free tier is ad-supported, with curated playlists and streamer-safe playlists for Twitch and YouTube. TYGER Club costs $3.99 a month in early access, rising to $5.99 at full release, and adds the full 400,000-song catalog, custom playlists and no ads.

UMG’s songs go to the paid, on-demand subscription, with some UMG recordings on the free tier. Both tiers get an update when TYGER relaunches later this year.

Why is UMG licensing TYGER for gaming?

Sir Lucian Grainge pitched this idea 7 months ago. On March 17, 2026, UMG’s chairman and CEO became the first music executive on stage at NVIDIA’s GTC conference, and he picked gaming as his example of hyper-personalization.

“

So, when they're driving, they make a turn on a racetrack, it syncopates to the chorus or the verse or the lyric, that means something to them.

TYGER joins a run of licensed AI deals at UMG: the Udio settlement in October 2025, Hook’s fan remix app in August 2026 and ElevenLabs on September 10. Michael Nash, UMG’s EVP and Chief Digital Officer, said UMG believes “music has a more integral role to play in gaming.”

TYGER isn’t the only company here. Reactional Music sells its engine to game developers, who build it into their games. TYGER runs next to the game instead, which is how a player can switch it on without the studio doing anything.

TYGER calls that a “direct route” for artists and songwriters to reach players. What a play pays is the one number neither company has shared yet.