Warner Music inks Suno deal amid cooling tensions over AI-generated music – News

One of the world’s largest music companies, Warner Music Group Corp., today reached a deal with AI music generation platform, Suno Inc., settling a copyright lawsuit and striking up a partnership.

Last year, WMG launched its lawsuit against Suno and Uncharted Labs Inc., better known as Udio, another generative AI music startup, citing “widespread infringement” of copyrighted sound recordings on an “almost unimaginable scale.” WMG, with other leading music companies represented by the Recording Industry Association of America, said AI firms were training their products on artists and songs in an effort to “saturate the market.” The labels sought an injunction to stop Suno and Udio from using their creations while also seeking damages.

Last week, WMG settled with Udio for an undisclosed amount, as the two companies agreed to build an AI music creation platform, which will be launched in 2026. Today, Suno announced a settlement, again, for an undisclosed sum, stating that it would compensate artists, songwriters and the wider creative community. The two firms have now agreed to a partnership wherein users of Suno will be allowed to create AI-generated music based on artists and their work.

“This landmark pact with Suno is a victory for the creative community that benefits everyone,” WMG Chief Executive Robert Kyncl said in a statement. “With Suno rapidly scaling, both in users and monetization, we’ve seized this opportunity to shape models that expand revenue and deliver new fan experiences. AI becomes pro-artist when it adheres to our principles: committing to licensed models, reflecting the value of music on and off platform, and providing artists and songwriters with an opt-in for the use of their name, image, likeness, voice, and compositions in new AI songs.”

WMG and Suno announced that the partnership will introduce “new, more advanced, and fully licensed models” for AI-generated music, while Suno’s existing models will be phased out. Similar to the recent Udio settlement, the deal imposes new restrictions on downloads: Only paying Suno subscribers will be allowed to download tracks created on the platform, and even they will face usage caps that require additional payments for higher download volumes. The shift appears aimed at curbing the flood of AI-generated songs originating from Suno that have been overwhelming streaming platforms.

“Our partnership with Warner Music unlocks a bigger, richer Suno experience for music lovers, and accelerates our mission to change the place of music in the world by making it more valuable to billions of people,” Suno CEO Mikey Shulman said in a statement. “Together, we can enhance how music is made, consumed, experienced, and shared. This means we’ll be rolling out new, more robust features for creation, opportunities to collaborate and interact with some of the most talented musicians in the world, all while continuing to build the biggest music ecosystem possible.”

The deal signals a shift in the rocky relationship between large music companies and AI music startups that were once treated as pirates on the high seas of human creativity. The new confidence in AI-generated music was illustrated last week when Suno announced that it had closed a $250 million Series C investment at a valuation of $2.45 billion — four times greater than at the previous round of funding.

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