Warner Music Group on Tuesday announced a partnership with AI company Suno to compensate music artists and songwriters, ending a legal battle between the two companies.
Suno allows users to write text prompts to create songs. Last year, music companies including WMG filed a lawsuit against Suno, accusing him of using copyrighted songs to train AI models.
As part of the partnership, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Suno will make changes to its platform next year, releasing new licensed models and setting download limits. For example, free tier users will not be able to download songs they create. Paid users will have download limits, but can pay more to increase this amount.
WMG artists can agree to have their images, voices, names and compositions used in AI-generated music, opening up new sources of income for them, Suno said in a blog post.
“This landmark agreement with Suno is a win for the creative community that benefits everyone,” Robert Kinkle, chief executive of WMG, said in a statement. “As Suno rapidly expands in both user base and monetization, we have taken this opportunity to shape models that increase revenue and deliver new fan experiences.”
WMG declined to comment on the financial terms of the agreement or which artists would participate. A Suno spokesman sent The Times a company blog post that did not detail financial terms.
Kinkle said in Blog post November 20 that his company will only enter into AI deals with partners who are “committed to licensed models,” that the terms reflect the value of the music, and that artists and songwriters have the option to choose to have their name, image, likeness or voice used in AI-generated songs.
Suno says about 100 million people use its platform to create music. Last week, Suno closed a $250 million fundraising round with investors including Menlo Ventures, giving the AI business a valuation of $2.45 billion.
Suno CEO Mikey Shulman said the partnership with WMG “opens up a broader, richer Suno experience for music fans.”
“Together we can improve the way music is created, consumed, experienced and shared,” Shulman said in a statement.
Suno also acquired music and concert discovery platform Songkick from WMG. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Last week WMG also reached an agreement with firm AI Udio resolving a lawsuit against the company.
