AI music platform Suno unveils deal with Warner to compensate artists

The U.S. artificial intelligence platform Suno and Warner Music Group on Tuesday announced a partnership to compensate recording artists in the fast-growing domain of AI music.

The agreement, announced jointly by the two companies, resolves a civil lawsuit brought by music giant Warner alleging that the artificial intelligence company mined music catalogues without authorisation or financial compensation.

The litigation was part of a group of complaints brought by legacy music labels against Suno and fellow AI music platform Udio alleging the upstarts violated the copyrights of top artists to train their generative AI engines.

Suno will launch new models in 2026, requiring a paid account to download audio, the companies said in a press release.

Recording artists will have the right to opt in to Suno for the use of their “names, images, likenesses, voices and compositions to be used in new AI-generated music,” Suno said in an online letter to users.

“These will be new creation experiences from artists who do opt in, which will open up new revenue streams for them… and allow you to interact with them in new ways,” Suno said.

Warner’s CEO Robert Kyncl called the agreement a “landmark pact” that “benefits everyone,” according to the press release.

“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,” Kyncl said.

“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.”

Lawsuits brought by music giants cited prompts to churn out AI songs mimicking copyrighted works of Chuck Berry, James Brown, Michael Buble, ABBA, and others.

The Suno announcement comes on the heels of an agreement announced last month between Udio and Universal Music Group, whose roster includes Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and other stars.