The Song’s Concept

After being relatively dormant since its 2019 release, the streaming revival of “Angels Above Me” has even surprised Stick Figure’s leader and songwriter, Scott Woodruff: “I would have never imagined that first of all it would have been this song or having a resurgence in a viral way in in this fashion.” While on tour, he wrote the song with his friend T.J. O’Neill who came up with the original concept in the midst of personal struggles.

Woodruff recalls that “It was one of those songs that just seemed to come out of thin air. It kind of all fell into place and it felt very natural, and we'd always loved that song. There's a lot of people that connect to it on a spiritual level for people who have lost people in the past and for many different reasons.”

Changes in the Music AI Landscape

Billboard reported on the establishment of licensing deals between the AI music creation companies Suno and Udio, and major labels including the Universal Music Group (UMG) and the Warner Music Group (WMG). Such agreements have occurred despite the majors and the RIAA suing both Suno and Udio in 2024 for copyright infringement. By November 2025, UMG, WMG and Sony all struck licensing deals with a new AI music platform, Klay.

While many such deals include “opt-in” clauses requiring the consent of artists to license their creative material for AI use, other parties in the general public are unrestricted in reshaping copyrighted works without permission.

In addressing the situation with “Angels Above Me,” Woodruff confirms that others are cloning versions and claiming creative ownership of the material that they upload. He emphasizes that “It's all playing out in real time. There's no formula for how to deal with this. There's nothing in place in the industry to protect artists right now because it's all new.”

AI Effects and Solutions

Even as unauthorized remixes of “Angels Above Me” spread globally, according to Woodruff’s recent Instagram post, the original Stick Figure version is also an unexpected beneficiary across all streaming platforms, reportedly receiving five times more plays than normal. However, from the artist’s viewpoint, the hundreds of hours invested in writing recording and mixing the songs is rapidly undermined by pirate third parties who “hit something in one click and it goes ten times bigger than any song we’ve ever had.”

The Ineffable Music Group provides label services to Woodruff’s Ruffwood Records and manages Stick Figure. While Ineffable’s CEO and founder Thomas Cussins and president Adam Gross acknowledge the infringement’s side effect of greater international market attention for Stick Figure, they remain deeply concerned about the unregulated state of AI music outlets and the likely consequences for artists.

Cussins describes the current situation surrounding Stick Figure’s “Angels Above Me” as “a watershed moment” that should usher in a series of protections for rights holders. He is alarmed by the deals that the major labels have made with the AI music vendors “because none of the independent music companies had a seat at the table. We're representing 40% of the artists of the consumption, and we have zero seat at the table for that.”

Affirming Cussins’ perspectives, Gross adds that there are too many grey AI music areas demanding immediate attention. He notes that “I think one of the realities of this “Angels Above Me” situation is it’s a fully AI-generated track with AI-generated vocals and melodies, and although the melodies are not exactly the same, people are trying to call them covers. They’re not.”

Stick Figure’s Woodruff says that some efforts to reach out to the people who have posted popular AI versions of his song have been met with claims for fifty percent of all generated income. Gross describes the continual takedowns of infringing versions of the song as an exhausting “whack-a-mole” approach that could be simplified with effective administration by distributors and streaming platforms.

Gross says “we want to do everything we can to push for the legislation to pressure these companies in any ways that we can,” and Cussins asserts that “we need immediate, comprehensive reform on this to be able to credit back the original writers and the original artists,” with reversion of the bulk of the publishing and master recording revenue to the creators. Gross adds that “things have to end with licensing agreements in place and with a model that hopefully benefits everybody.”

Meanwhile, Stick Figure’s next album containing fifteen new tracks is nearing completion, with release planned for either late this year or early in 2027.