Warner Music Group will team up with technology start-up Suno for an AI music venture, the music label said in a press communique on Wednesday, a year after suing Suno for copying existing songs.
As per the press release, Warner will collaborate on next-generation licensed AI music that empowers the creative community and opens new revenue opportunities for artists and songwriters. It will let users create AI-generated music on Suno using the voices, tones and names of artistes who sign up for the programme.
Warner Music Group is known for representing artistes like Dua Lipa, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran. The music label, along with several music giants like Sony Music, had previously sued Suno and another firm called Udio.
The deal also settles previous litigation between the companies, reads the statement on Warner Music Group’s official website.
“This landmark pact with Suno is a victory for the creative community that benefits everyone. 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. AI becomes pro-artist when it adheres to our principles: committing to licensed models, reflecting the value of music on and off platform, and providing artists and songwriters with an opt-in for the use of their name, image, likeness, voice and compositions in new AI songs,” Robert Kyncl, CEO of WMG, said.
Mikey Shulman, CEO of Suno, said, “Our partnership with Warner Music unlocks a bigger, richer Suno experience for music lovers, and accelerates our mission to change the place of music in the world by making it more valuable to billions of people. 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,” Shulman added.
Suno plans to make several changes to the platform, including launching new, more advanced and licensed models in 2026. When the new models launch next year, the current models will cease to exist, the officials said.
After it gets implemented, users will require a paid account to download audio. According to Warner Music Group, Suno will introduce download restrictions in certain scenarios — specifically, in the future, songs made on the free tier will not be downloadable and will instead be playable and shareable. Paid tier users will have limited monthly downloads with the ability to pay for more downloads.
The partnership aims to allow artists and songwriters to benefit from new revenue streams, and add powerful new interactive features that offer opportunities for deeper fan engagement.
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, WMG said.