Suno, a Massachusetts-based generative AI music platform, has reached a settlement agreement with Warner Music Group. This agreement lays significant groundwork for creating the next generation of advanced & licensed models on Suno’s platform. This partnership comes on the heels of T4A’s joining a lawsuit. Warner Music Group, joined by Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group, alleged that Suno violated artists’ rights by making music that is indistinguishable from that created by actual musicians.
Since its introduction just two years ago Suno has quickly shot up to become one of the most popular attracting around 100 million users. The company allows users to create music based on simple text descriptions, making music production accessible to a wider audience. The lawsuit raised huge questions about the potential destructive impacts that the platform could have on the music industry. Critics blasted the move—AI companies using copyright-protected material to train their systems—as wholesale theft. Nearly 200 artists have weighed in, from big-time celebrities such as Billie Eilish and Nicki Minaj. They term AI’s incursion into music creation as “predatory”.
In 2024, the Recording Industry Association of America filed a lawsuit against Suno. They argued that Suno’s platform made money by reproducing existing songs without proper permission. As part of the settlement, Warner Music Group will grant users permission to make AI-generated music. This will involve utilizing the voices, names and likenesses of creators who opt-in to the program.
Suno’s new 2026 model will be the current model’s replacement. Beyond that, it’ll launch a whole new revenue stream, in the form of paid audio downloads. This shift really is a remarkable showing of the company’s desire to protect artists’ rights while pushing the envelope and innovating in the tech-driven space of music.
“Artists and songwriters will have full control over whether and how their names, images, likenesses, voices and compositions are used in new AI-generated music,” said a representative from Warner.
As the partnership progresses, Suno aims to ensure that creators can exercise their rights while exploring the potential of AI in music. Those new models should be released shortly. Here’s an overview of the ones that are now working to shape how generative AI will be used in music creation.