Warner settles lawsuit with Suno and announces AI partnership
Warner Music Group has reached an agreement with AI music generator Suno and will collaborate with the platform.
As part of the settlement, Warner Music Group allows users to create AI-generated music from artists who have opted in for the use of their names, images, likenesses, voices, and compositions. It's unclear who these artists are.
There’s one condition: users will need a paid Suno account to download songs. In addition, they can download a limited number of songs per month, unless they’re willing to pay extra. More details on paid subscriptions, which are set to launch next year, will be shared soon.
Robert Kyncl, CEO of Warner Music Group, calls the partnership with Suno a “landmark pact,” suggesting that it will be beneficial for all music lovers.
“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,” he said in a statement.
Mikey Shulman, CEO of Suno, argues that the partnership with Warner Music Group will provide new opportunities for music creators.
“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,” he explained.
In 2024, Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Universal Music Group initiated a lawsuit against Suno and a similar platform called Udio for mass infringement of copyrighted sound recordings and exploitation without permission. Experts from the music community called the practices of these companies “massive theft” to train their AI models.
“The music community has embraced AI, and we are already partnering and collaborating with responsible developers to build sustainable AI tools centered on human creativity that put artists and songwriters in charge. But we can only succeed if developers are willing to work together with us,” Mitch Glazier, Chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America, said at the time.
He also stated that unlicensed services like Suno and Udio thought it was “‘fair’ to copy an artist’s life’s work and exploit it for their own profit without consent or pay.”
Warner Music Group withdrew its lawsuit against Udio earlier this year.
Earlier this month, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment signed separate AI licensing agreements with Klay, an AI music startup.
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