Topline
Warner Music Group said Tuesday it settled its lawsuit accusing AI music company Suno of training its models on copyrighted material, marking the first settlement after the three major record labels and the Recording Industry Association of America sued the fast-growing and controversial AI startup last year.
Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl said the label “seized this opportunity to shape models that expand revenue.” (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Warner Music and Suno said in a release Tuesday afternoon they will enter a partnership through which Suno will launch “new, more advanced and licensed models” for song generation and will restrict downloading audio to paid accounts only.
Warner Music also said it sold Songkick, a live music discovery platform, to Suno.
The companies said 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.”
Robert Kyncl, CEO of Warner Music, said the label “seized this opportunity to shape models that expand revenue,” citing the rapid growth of Suno, which said last week it raised $250 million at a $2.45 billion valuation and had reached nearly 100 million users.
What Is Suno?
Suno is an AI platform that lets users convert text prompts into music and vocals. The platform has grown rapidly since its launch in 2023, forging a partnership with producer Timbaland and securing funding from NVentures, Nvidia’s venture capital arm, and Hallwood Media, a music management company that has increasingly invested in AI music. Songs created using Suno have recently made a splash on the Billboard charts, including music by R&B AI-generated “artist” Xania Monet, whose songs are written by writer Telisha “Nikki” Jones. Xania Monet recently topped the Billboard R&B song sales chart and became the first AI “artist” to debut on a Billboard airplay chart, and it has more than 1.4 million monthly listeners on Spotify. But Suno has also sparked some backlash among artists, including singer Kehlani, who said she does not respect AI-generated music after Xania Monet’s creator signed a multimillion dollar record deal. Hundreds of artists including Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry and Stevie Wonder signed an open letter in April 2024 urging AI companies to stop training their models on copyrighted music without permission.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/11/25/warner-music-settles-lawsuit-with-suno-and-will-partner-with-ai-music-generator/
