Warner Music signs deal with AI music startup Suno, settles lawsuit
Warner Music Group (WMG) announced Tuesday with which it reached an agreement Sun, settlement of its copyright case against the AI music startup. WMG said in a press release that the deal with Suno “will open new frontiers in music creation, interaction and discovery, while both compensating and protecting artists, songwriters and the broader creative community.”
WMG also announced that it has been sold Songkicka live music and concert discovery platform, to Suno for an undisclosed sum. WMG had acquired Songkick’s app and brand in 2017, while Live Nation later bought Songkick’s ticket company.
WMG says Songkick will continue as a fan destination under Suno.
As a result of the partnership with WMG, Suno will launch more advanced and licensed models that will replace the current models next year. Downloading audio from the service requires a paid account, while users on the free tier are limited to playing and sharing songs created on the platform.
WMG’s artists and songwriters will also have full control over whether and how their names, images, likenesses, voices and compositions are used in new AI-generated music.
Artists signed to WMG include Lady Gaga, Coldplay, The Weeknd, Sabrina Carpenter and more.
“This groundbreaking pact with Suno is a win for the creative community that will benefit everyone,” said Robert Kyncl, CEO of WMG, in the press release. “As Suno scales rapidly in terms of both users and revenue, we took this opportunity to shape models that increase revenue and deliver new fan experiences.”
The news comes a week after WMG settled its copyright case with AI music startup Udio and entered into a licensing agreement for an AI music creation service set to launch in 2026.
WMG’s settlements with Suno and Udio mark a significant shift in the music industry’s approach to AI. Last year, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment sued Suno and Udio for copyright infringement. While WMG has settled the lawsuits with Suno and Udio, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment are also reportedly in talks to license their work to Udio and Suno and settle their lawsuits against the startups.
In a sign of investor confidence in AI music technology, Suno announced last week that it had raised a $250 million Series C round at a post-money valuation of $2.45 billion. The round was led by Menlo Ventures with participation from Nvidia’s venture arm NVentures, as well as Hallwood Media, Lightspeed and Matrix.
