Warner Music settles lawsuit with Suno, forms new AI partnership

Warner Music Group has settled its lawsuit with AI music company Suno and announced a new partnership that will allow both sides to work together on licensed AI music.

Warner Music had sued Suno last year, along with Sony Music, Universal Music and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). They claimed that Suno used copyrighted songs to train its AI models without permission. Suno denied the claim and said its use of music fell under fair use, comparing it to "a kid learning to write songs by listening to music."

On Tuesday, Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl said the company used this moment to "shape models that expand revenue," showing it is willing to work with AI companies instead of only fighting them in court.

As part of the settlement, Suno will now launch new, licensed AI music models. It will also limit audio downloads to paid users. Warner Music also sold Songkick, its live music discovery platform, to Suno.

Both companies said artistes and songwriters will have full control over how their names, voices, images and music are used in AI generated songs.

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Suno has grown extremely fast since launching in 2023. It recently raised $250 million at a $2.45 billion valuation and has almost 100 million users. Some songs made with Suno have even appeared on Billboard charts. One AI generated artiste, Xania Monet, reached number one on the Billboard R&B song sales chart and has more than 1.4 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

However, the rise of AI music has also faced backlash. Singer Kehlani said she does not respect AI generated music. Earlier this year, more than 200 artistes — including Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry and Stevie Wonder — signed an open letter asking AI companies to stop using copyrighted music without permission.

It has been reported that Sony Music and Universal Music Group are also in talks with Suno to settle their lawsuits and explore licensing deals.