Warner Music Group Settles AI Music Lawsuits, Signs Licensing Deals with Suno and Udio

Warner Music signs deal with AI music startup Suno, settles lawsuit | TechCrunch

Warner Music Group (WMG) announced on Tuesday that it has reached a deal with Suno, settling its copyright lawsuit 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 wider creative community." WMG also announced that it has sold Songkick, a live music and concert-discovery platform, to Suno for an undisclosed amount. WMG had acquired Songkick's app and brand in 2017, while Live Nation later acquired Songkick's ticketing business. WMG says Songkick will continue as a fan destination under Suno. As a result of WMG's partnership, Suno will launch more advanced and licensed models that will replace its current ones next year. Downloading audio from the service will require a paid account, while users on the free tier will be limited to playing and sharing songs made 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 landmark pact with Suno is a victory for the creative community that benefits everyone," said WMG CEO Robert Kyncl in 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." The news comes a week after WMG settled its copyright lawsuit with AI music startup Udio and entered into a licensing deal for an AI music creation service that's 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 its 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 raised a $250 million Series C round at a $2.45 billion post-money valuation. The round was led by Menlo Ventures with participation from Nvidia's venture arm NVentures, as well as Hallwood Media, Lightspeed, and Matrix.

Warner Music settles copyright lawsuit with Udio, signs deal for AI music platform | TechCrunch

Warner Music Group (WMG) has settled a copyright infringement case with AI music startup Udio, the label announced on Wednesday. The two have also entered into a licensing deal for an AI music creation service that's set to launch in 2026. In a press release, WMG said that the "next-generation music creation, listening, and discovery platform" will be powered by generative AI models trained on licensed and authorized music. The company says the platform will create "new revenue streams for artists and songwriters, while ensuring their work remains protected." The subscription service will allow users to make remixes, covers, and new songs using the voices of artists and compositions of songwriters who choose to participate. Warner Music Group says the platform will ensure artists and songwriters are credited and compensated. "We're unwaveringly committed to the protection of the rights of our artists and songwriters, and Udio has taken meaningful steps to ensure that the music on its service will be authorized and licensed," said WMG CEO Robert Kyncl in the press release. "This collaboration aligns with our broader efforts to responsibly unlock AI's potential - fueling new creative and commercial possibilities while continuing to deliver innovative experiences for fans." Artists signed to WMG include Lady Gaga, Coldplay, The Weeknd, Sabrina Carpenter, and more. "This partnership is a crucial step towards realizing a future in which technology amplifies creativity and unlocks new opportunities for artists and songwriters," said Udio co-founder and CEO Andrew Sanchez, in the press release. "Our new platform will enable experiences where fans can create alongside their favorite artists and make extraordinary music in an environment that offers artists control and connection." The settlement marks a significant shift in the music industry's approach to AI. Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment sued Udio and rival AI music platform Suno last year for copyright infringement. Both platforms allow users to generate songs using AI-powered text prompts. Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment are also reportedly in talks to license their work to Udio and Suno. In a sign of investor confidence in AI music technology, Suno announced earlier on Wednesday that it has raised a $250 million Series C round at a $2.45 billion post-money valuation. The round was led by Menlo Ventures with participation from Nvidia's venture arm NVentures, as well as Hallwood Media, Lightspeed, and Matrix.

Warner Music Group partners with Suno to offer AI likenesses of its artists

Warner Music Group has struck a licensing deal with the AI music creation platform Suno. Under the agreement, WMG will allow users to create AI-generated music on Suno using the voices, names, likenesses, images, and compositions of artists who opt in to the program. WMG, which owns record labels that have signed musicians like Ed Sheeran, Twenty One Pilots, Dua Lipa, and Charlie XCX, says participating artists will have "full control" over how their likeness and music are used, though it doesn't share how. "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 says, adding that users will be able to "build around" an artist's sounds "and ensure they get compensated." WMG is also dropping out of a lawsuit it originally filed with Universal Music Group and Sony, alleging Suno illegally ripped their copyrighted works from YouTube. In recent weeks, major music labels have begun to embrace AI, as WMG similarly settled with AI music maker Udio earlier this month, while UMG ended its litigation against the platform in favor of a licensing agreement. The "ethical" AI music platform Klay has also struck deals with UMG, Sony, and WMG. Along with the licensing agreement, Suno is planning to use licensed music from WMG to build next-gen music generation models that it claims will surpass its flagship v5 model. It will also start requiring users to have a paid account to download songs starting next year, with each tier providing a specific number of downloads each month.

Warner settles lawsuit and agrees licensing deal with AI music platform

Warner Music has struck a licensing deal with artificial intelligence start-up Udio to power a new streaming platform with its songs, according to people familiar with the matter, as major labels seek to set terms for payment in the AI era. Warner, the world's third-largest music company and home to acts including Charli XCX, Madonna and Ed Sheeran, has settled a lawsuit with Udio as part of the agreement, according to people familiar with the matter. As part of the deal, Udio plans to launch a new subscription service next year, allowing fans to create their own songs using licensed tracks. Warner's artists would need to agree for their music to be included in the service, these people said. An announcement could come as early as Wednesday, said people familiar with the matter. Warner Music, along with rivals Universal and Sony, last year sued Udio, alleging the company was illegally using copyrighted recordings to train its AI models. Universal Music last month struck a deal with Udio to include its catalogue in the upcoming subscription service. Warner also announced a licensing deal with Stability AI, an AI music tools specialist, on Wednesday. The label is close to unveiling more agreements in the coming days, said people familiar with the talks. After the Napster crisis of the early 2000s, music companies are trying to get ahead of disruptive technology this time around. The labels have spent much of this year in negotiations with AI groups to hash out the terms for licensed products to create songs using their music copyrights -- and ensure they are properly compensated. However, many artists remain staunchly opposed to AI-generated music, fearing it could undermine the value of their work. Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox and others have released a "silent" album to protest against the UK government's recent changes to copyright law. The album's track listing spells out the message: "The British government must not legalise music theft to benefit AI companies." Elliot Grainge, chief executive of Warner's Atlantic Records, told the Financial Times in September: "Labels have a responsibility to negotiate the best deals for their artists -- and they're really good at that. They learned from their mistakes in the past." Warner Music declined to comment and Udio did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Warner Music drops lawsuit against AI music platform Suno in exchange for licensing agreement

Following its licensing deal with Udio, Warner Music Group (WMG) has also reached an agreement with Suno that will let the platform license its artists' music and likenesses, and end the music company's ongoing litigation. WMG was previously one of several record labels suing Udio and Suno for allegedly infringing on copyrighted works at a "massive scale." As part of the agreement, "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 explains in its press release for the announcement. WMG doesn't spell out how that will work for musicians impacted by the deal, but it does appear that participation will be opt-in, rather than anything being shared by default. This mirrors the opt-in structure of the company's Udio deal. "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," WMG CEO Robert Kyncl says. Suno will also make adjustments to its AI music platform, possibly as a condition of the new partnership. WMG says Suno is launching "new, more advanced and licensed models" in 2026, after which its current models will be deprecated. The company will also limit music downloads to paid accounts. "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 download caps with the ability to pay for more downloads," WMG says. In an odd wrinkle to the partnership, Suno is also acquiring WMG's Songkick concert discovery platform. The company plans to continue running it, and WMG claims that "the combination of Suno and Songkick will create new potential to deepen the artist-fan connection." An app for finding nearby concerts doesn't totally square with Suno's existing music creation tools, but maybe it suggests the company is interested in offering more social features down the road. Prior to this agreement, Suno openly admitted to using "essentially all music files of reasonable quality that are accessible on the open internet" to train its AI model, under the auspices of fair use. That seems like a pretty blatant admission of copyright infringement, but apparently Warner Music Group is happier with the deals it struck than what it could have won through its lawsuit. The company is reportedly one of several music groups looking to strike a similar deal with YouTube.

Warner Music and AI startup Udio settle copyright battle and ink license deal

LONDON (AP) -- Warner Music Group resolved its copyright battle with Udio and signed a deal to work with the AI music startup on a new song creation service that will allow users to remix tunes by established artists. It's the second agreement between a major record label and Udio, a chatbot-style song generation tool. The deals underline how AI is shaking up the music industry. AI-generated music has been flooding streaming services amid the rise of song generators that instantly spit out new tunes based on prompts typed in by users without any musical knowledge. The synthetic music boom has also resulted in a wave of AI singers and bands that have climbed the charts after racking up millions of streams, even though they don't exist in real life. Warner, which represents artists including Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa, has resolved its copyright infringement litigation against Udio, the two companies said. They've also established "a clear framework" for developing Udio's licensed AI music creation service that's set to launch in 2026. They provided no financial details on their agreement, which includes Warner's recording and publishing businesses, but it will create "new revenue streams for artists and songwriters, while ensuring their work remains protected." It's similar to an agreement that Universal Music Group signed last month with Udio, which triggered a huge backlash because Udio stopped users from downloading the songs they created. Udio said it will remain a "closed-system" as it prepares to launch the new service next year. If artists and songwriters choose to let their works be used, they'll be credited and paid when users remix or cover their songs, or make new tunes with their voices and compositions, the companies said. Sony Music Entertainment remains the only major record company that hasn't yet signed an AI licensing deal with Udio or Suno, after filing suit against them last year over copyright alongside Universal and Warner. Suno hasn't yet signed a deal with any major label. Also Wednesday, Warner unveiled a deal to work with another artificial intelligence company, Stability AI, on developing "professional-grade tools" for musicians, songwriters and producers.

Warner Music Group settles lawsuit with AI music firm and launches joint venture

Warner Music Group (WMG) will begin an artificial intelligence (AI) music venture with technology start-up Suno - a year after it sued the firm in a landmark case. As part of the settlement agreement struck between the two firms, Warner will let users create AI-generated music on Suno using the voices, names and likeness of artists who opt-in to the programme. The record label, which represents artists like Dua Lipa, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran, was among several music giants like Sony Music that sued Suno and a similar platform called Udio. AI-generated content has been controversial, with many artists voicing concerns that it could undermine human songwriters.

Warner signs AI music licensing deal with Udio

Warner Music Group (WMG) settled a lawsuit with an AI company in exchange for a piece of the action. The label announced on Wednesday that it had resolved a 2024 lawsuit against AI music creation platform Udio. As part of the deal, Udio gets to license Warner's catalog for an upcoming music creation service. This follows a similar settlement between Universal Music Group and Udio, announced last month. Udio's service will allow subscribers to create, listen to and discover AI-generated music trained on licensed work. You'll be able to generate new songs, remixes and covers using favorite artists' voices or compositions. The boundaries between human creation and an algorithm's approximation of it are about to grow murkier. Not in terms of artistic quality, but it will be based on what proliferates online. WMG is framing the deal as a win for artists, who will -- if they choose to opt in -- gain a new revenue stream. Ahead of the service's launch, Udio will roll out "expanded protections and other measures designed to safeguard the rights of artists and songwriters." So, the settlement does at least appear to reassert some control over artists' work. What the normalization of robot-made music will do for society's collective tastes is another question. The settlement echoes a warning Spotify sounded to musicians and labels last month. "If the music industry doesn't lead in this moment, AI-powered innovation will happen elsewhere, without rights, consent or compensation," the company wrote. Spotify plans to launch "artist-first AI music products" in the future, a vague promise to be sure. However, given Udio's plans, it wouldn't be surprising to see the streaming service cooking up a similar licensed AI music-creation product. "We're unwaveringly committed to the protection of the rights of our artists and songwriters, and Udio has taken meaningful steps to ensure that the music on its service will be authorized and licensed," Warner Music CEO Robert Kyncl wrote in a press release. "This collaboration aligns with our broader efforts to responsibly unlock AI's potential - fueling new creative and commercial possibilities while continuing to deliver innovative experiences for fans."

Warner Music signs deal with AI song generator Suno after settling lawsuit

Music company representing Coldplay and Ed Sheeran had sued tech platform alleging mass copyright infringement Warner Music has signed a licensing deal with the artificial intelligence song generator Suno after settling a copyright infringement lawsuit it launched against the service a year ago Warner, the world's third-largest music company and home to acts including Coldplay, Charli XCX and Ed Sheeran, is the first of the major record labels to partner officially with the company. As part of their agreement, users will be allowed to create AI-generated songs on Suno via simple text prompts using the voices, names and likenesses of the Warner acts who choose to opt in to the service. Robert Kyncl, the chief executive of Warner Music Group, said the deal showed that artificial intelligence could be "pro-artist" when it is licensed to "reflect the value of music". "This landmark pact with Suno is a victory for the creative community that benefits everyone," he said. "With Suno rapidly scaling, both in users and monetisation, we've seized this opportunity to shape models that expand revenue and deliver new fan experiences." As part of the agreement Suno, heralded as the ChatGPT for music, has committed to making changes to its platform to launch new, more advanced and licensed models next year, including putting new limitations on downloads for users. Suno said that only paid-tier subscribers would be able to download its AI music creations, and paid users would also have to pay more for downloads and have a cap on how many they could make. The agreement to introduce the new models, which would lead to the existing versions being phased out, seeks to stem the thousands of AI tracks made on Suno that subsequently flood streaming services. The deal comes just over a week after Warner Music settled a lawsuit and struck a partnership agreement with the rival AI song generation service Udio. Last year, the world's biggest record companies sued Suno and Udio for copyright infringement, alleging that their software steals music to "spit out" millions of AI-generated songs without permission from artists. Universal Music, the world's biggest music company, was the first to announce a settlement with either company when it reached a deal with Udio last month. Universal remains in litigation with Suno while Sony Music is suing both Suno and Udio. As part of Warner Music's deal, Suno has acquired Songkick, the live-music and concert-discovery platform, for an undisclosed amount. In the UK, the government has been consulting on a new intellectual property framework for AI which initially looked like it would result in AI companies being able to use works from the creative community to train their models without permission. The issue has led to a wave of protests from the creative community, which wants to see an opt-in approach, so that when a work is used it can be identified and licensed to remunerate creators. Last week, Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, said she wanted to "reset" the debate and indicated she was sympathetic to artists' demands not to have their works scraped by AI companies without payment.

Warner Music Moves From Litigation to Licensing With Udio - Decrypt

The settlement includes Warner's recorded music and publishing divisions, with Udio rolling out artist protections ahead of a 2026 launch. Warner Music Group has resolved its copyright infringement lawsuit against AI music generator Udio, announcing an agreement Wednesday that will convert the latter into a licensed service launching in 2026. The agreement resolves a lawsuit filed last June, when Warner joined Sony Music Entertainment and UMG Recordings in accusing Udio and competitor platform Suno of mass copyright infringement for allegedly training its AI models on copyrighted recordings without permission. Under the settlement, Udio will abandon its current model and develop a subscription platform where users can create remixes, covers, and new songs using voices and compositions from participating artists and songwriters, all with proper licensing, credits, and payment, according to the latest statement. "This partnership is a crucial step towards realizing a future in which technology amplifies creativity and unlocks new opportunities for artists and songwriters," Andrew Sanchez, Udio's co-founder and CEO said in the statement. The agreement spans Warner's recorded music and publishing divisions, creating new revenue streams while ensuring artist protections. Udio will also roll out expanded protections and safeguards for artists and songwriters ahead of the 2026 launch, while maintaining access to its current system during the transition. Artists and songwriters who choose to participate will receive credit and payment when users create content using their work, according to the statement. The lawsuit, filed by the Recording Industry Association of America and a coalition of major labels, accused Udio and Suno of copying "decades worth of the world's most popular sound recordings" to train their models. The lawsuit initially sought $150,000 per infringement incident and injunctions barring future violations. "They have both taken steps to hide the scope of their widescale infringement, which we expect to uncover in the litigations. But we know more than just that the snippets 'sound like' copyrighted recordings," an RIAA spokesperson told Decrypt at the time. The settlement comes as AI music generation faces mounting legal and regulatory pressure. A German court recently ruled against OpenAI for reproducing copyrighted song lyrics, marking the first time a European court found a large language model violated copyright law. The court held that GPT-4 and GPT-4o contained reproducible lyrics from nine songs, constituting unauthorized reproduction under EU and German copyright law.

Warner Music, Suno strike AI music deal, settle copyright lawsuit

WMG has also sold Songkick, its live music and concert-discovery platform to Suno. Warner Music Group (WMG) has settled its year-long copyright lawsuit against AI music generator Suno. Instead, the two have struck a partnership that, according to a WMG press release, will "open new frontiers in music creation". WMG represents hundreds of the world's top performing musicians, including Ed Sheeran, Fleetwood Mac, Sombr and Charli XCX. Meanwhile Suno, with nearly 100m "music makers", offers the option to generate up to 500 "custom" songs a month, while also allowing users to commercialise their AI-generated creations. Users can input text prompts into Suno to generate music, which is trained on a vast swathe of already published music by other artists. Alongside the partnership, WMG has also sold Songkick, its live music and concert-discovery platform to Suno. "The combination of Suno and Songkick will create new potential to deepen the artist-fan connection," WMG said. Suno CEO Mikey Shulman has said that the partnership will create 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". Artists and songwriters will seemingly have "full control" over if and how their names, images, likenesses, voices and compositions are used in Suno's new AI-generated music, the companies assert. While the partnership will introduce new opportunities for artists and songwriters to get paid, Suno said. However, the company hasn't clarified how. Suno will be launching newer, more advanced AI models next year. And moving forward, the company has said that downloading audio will require a paid account. Paid tier users will have limited monthly download caps with the ability to pay for more downloads, it added. "This landmark pact with Suno is a victory for the creative community that benefits everyone. With Suno rapidly scaling, both in users and monetisation, we've seized this opportunity to shape models that expand revenue and deliver new fan experiences," said Robert Kyncl, the CEO of WMG. "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." Last year, WMG had sued Suno and Uncharted Labs - the developer of Udio AI - as part of a joint lawsuit alongside Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony Music. The latter two are still moving forward with the lawsuit. News of WMG's partnership with Suno comes just weeks after UMG settled its suit against Udio to launch a new platform that will train AI on licensed music. Shortly after, WMG announced a licensing agreement with Udio. "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," Shulman said. "Together, we can enhance how music is made, consumed, experienced and shared." Suno is currently being sued by the German music rights organisation GEMA, which recently won a copyright lawsuit against OpenAI for reproducing song lyrics by popular artists it represents. However, proving that a particular piece of art has been used to train AI models has become a mammoth task for companies and artists battling AI companies. Recently, stock visuals giant Getty lost a major lawsuit in the UK against Stability AI after the country's High Court ruled that the AI company's model weights did not contain copies of Getty's copyrighted works. Although the court did agree that there was some evidence that Getty's images were used to train the model. And earlier this year, a US court sided with AI giant Anthropic, denying a motion filed by mega music publishers UMG, Concord and Capitol CMG to stop the start-up from using their song lyrics to train its AI models. Although Anthropic lost a different major copyright battle against book publishers over illegally pirating their work to train its models, the court had found that the AI giant is protected under fair use when it came to using the books to train Claude. Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

Warner Music inks Suno deal amid cooling tensions over AI-generated music

Warner Music inks Suno deal amid cooling tensions over AI-generated music One of the world's largest music companies, Warner Music Group Corp., today reached a deal with AI music generation platform, Suno Inc., settling a copyright lawsuit and striking up a partnership. Last year, WMG launched its lawsuit against Suno and Uncharted Labs Inc., better known as Udio, another generative AI music startup, citing "widespread infringement" of copyrighted sound recordings on an "almost unimaginable scale." WMG, with other leading music companies represented by the Recording Industry Association of America, said AI firms were training their products on artists and songs in an effort to "saturate the market." The labels sought an injunction to stop Suno and Udio from using their creations while also seeking damages. Last week, WMG settled with Udio for an undisclosed amount, as the two companies agreed to build an AI music creation platform, which will be launched in 2026. Today, Suno announced a settlement, again, for an undisclosed sum, stating that it would compensate artists, songwriters and the wider creative community. The two firms have now agreed to a partnership wherein users of Suno will be allowed to create AI-generated music based on artists and their work. "This landmark pact with Suno is a victory for the creative community that benefits everyone," WMG Chief Executive Robert Kyncl said in a statement. "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." WMG and Suno announced that the partnership will introduce "new, more advanced, and fully licensed models" for AI-generated music, while Suno's existing models will be phased out. Similar to the recent Udio settlement, the deal imposes new restrictions on downloads: Only paying Suno subscribers will be allowed to download tracks created on the platform, and even they will face usage caps that require additional payments for higher download volumes. The shift appears aimed at curbing the flood of AI-generated songs originating from Suno that have been overwhelming streaming platforms. "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," Suno CEO Mikey Shulman said in a statement. "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." The deal signals a shift in the rocky relationship between large music companies and AI music startups that were once treated as pirates on the high seas of human creativity. The new confidence in AI-generated music was illustrated last week when Suno announced that it had closed a $250 million Series C investment at a valuation of $2.45 billion -- four times greater than at the previous round of funding.

Suno buys Songkick in Warner Music Group settlement deal

Warner Music Group announced a settlement with AI music startup Suno on Tuesday, resolving a copyright lawsuit filed last year. The agreement includes the sale of WMG's live-music platform Songkick to Suno and establishes a partnership to advance AI music tools while protecting artists' rights. The settlement enables new developments in music creation, interaction, and discovery. It ensures compensation for artists, songwriters, and the broader creative community alongside safeguards for their intellectual property. WMG, one of the world's largest music companies, initiated the lawsuit against Suno in 2023, alleging unauthorized use of copyrighted material to train AI models that generate music. As part of the deal, WMG sold Songkick to Suno for an undisclosed sum. WMG had purchased Songkick's app and brand in 2017 to enhance fan engagement and concert discovery. Subsequently, Live Nation acquired Songkick's ticketing operations. Under the new arrangement, Suno will operate Songkick as a dedicated platform for fans to explore live music events. Suno plans to introduce more advanced AI models next year, licensed through the partnership with WMG. These models will supersede the current versions, incorporating protections derived from the settlement. Access to downloading generated audio files will be restricted to paid account holders. Users on the free tier can only play and share songs created via the platform, limiting broader distribution without subscription. Artists and songwriters affiliated with WMG will maintain complete authority over the inclusion of their names, images, likenesses, voices, and compositions in AI-generated music. This control allows them to approve or deny usage in specific projects. WMG's roster encompasses prominent acts such as Lady Gaga, Coldplay, The Weeknd, and Sabrina Carpenter, among numerous others whose works form the backbone of the label's catalog. WMG CEO Robert Kyncl described the agreement in the press release as follows: "This landmark pact with Suno is a victory for the creative community that benefits everyone." He added, "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's statements underscore the partnership's focus on integrating AI technology with established music industry practices. The announcement follows WMG's settlement with another AI music startup, Udio, one week prior. That resolution included a licensing agreement for an AI music creation service scheduled for launch in 2026. Both settlements address copyright concerns raised in lawsuits filed by WMG, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment against Suno and Udio last year. Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment remain engaged in discussions to license their catalogs to Udio and Suno, potentially leading to resolutions of their ongoing lawsuits. These negotiations reflect ongoing efforts within the industry to establish frameworks for AI applications in music production. Suno's recent financial milestone highlights growing investment in AI music technologies. The company secured a $250 million Series C funding round last week, achieving a post-money valuation of $2.45 billion. Menlo Ventures led the investment, with contributions from Nvidia's venture arm NVentures, Hallwood Media, Lightspeed, and Matrix. This capital infusion supports Suno's expansion amid increasing adoption of its AI tools.

Warner Music and AI startup Udio settle copyright battle and ink license deal

LONDON -- Warner Music Group resolved its copyright battle with Udio and signed a deal to work with the AI music startup on a new song creation service that will allow users to remix tunes by established artists. It's the second agreement between a major record label and Udio, a chatbot-style song generation tool. The deals underline how AI is shaking up the music industry. AI-generated music has been flooding streaming services amid the rise of song generators that instantly spit out new tunes based on prompts typed in by users without any musical knowledge. The synthetic music boom has also resulted in a wave of AI singers and bands that have climbed the charts after racking up millions of streams, even though they don't exist in real life. Warner, which represents artists including Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa, has resolved its copyright infringement litigation against Udio, the two companies said. They've also established "a clear framework" for developing Udio's licensed AI music creation service that's set to launch in 2026. They provided no financial details on their agreement, which includes Warner's recording and publishing businesses, but it will create "new revenue streams for artists and songwriters, while ensuring their work remains protected." It's similar to an agreement that Universal Music Group signed last month with Udio, which triggered a huge backlash because Udio stopped users from downloading the songs they created. Udio said it will remain a "closed-system" as it prepares to launch the new service next year. If artists and songwriters choose to let their works be used, they'll be credited and paid when users remix or cover their songs, or make new tunes with their voices and compositions, the companies said. Sony Music Entertainment remains the only major record company that hasn't yet signed an AI licensing deal with Udio or Suno, after filing suit against them last year over copyright alongside Universal and Warner. Suno hasn't yet signed a deal with any major label. Also Wednesday, Warner unveiled a deal to work with another artificial intelligence company, Stability AI, on developing "professional-grade tools" for musicians, songwriters and producers.

Warner Music and AI startup Udio settle copyright battle and ink license deal

LONDON (AP) -- Warner Music Group resolved its copyright battle with Udio and signed a deal to work with the AI music startup on a new song creation service that will allow users to remix tunes by established artists. It's the second agreement between a major record label and Udio, a chatbot-style song generation tool. The deals underline how AI is shaking up the music industry. AI-generated music has been flooding streaming services amid the rise of song generators that instantly spit out new tunes based on prompts typed in by users without any musical knowledge. The synthetic music boom has also resulted in a wave of AI singers and bands that have climbed the charts after racking up millions of streams, even though they don't exist in real life. Warner, which represents artists including Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa, has resolved its copyright infringement litigation against Udio, the two companies said. They've also established "a clear framework" for developing Udio's licensed AI music creation service that's set to launch in 2026. They provided no financial details on their agreement, which includes Warner's recording and publishing businesses, but it will create "new revenue streams for artists and songwriters, while ensuring their work remains protected." It's similar to an agreement that Universal Music Group signed last month with Udio, which triggered a huge backlash because Udio stopped users from downloading the songs they created. Udio said it will remain a "closed-system" as it prepares to launch the new service next year. If artists and songwriters choose to let their works be used, they'll be credited and paid when users remix or cover their songs, or make new tunes with their voices and compositions, the companies said. Sony Music Entertainment remains the only major record company that hasn't yet signed an AI licensing deal with Udio or Suno, after filing suit against them last year over copyright alongside Universal and Warner. Suno hasn't yet signed a deal with any major label. Also Wednesday, Warner unveiled a deal to work with another artificial intelligence company, Stability AI, on developing "professional-grade tools" for musicians, songwriters and producers.

Warner Music and AI Startup Udio Settle Copyright Battle and Ink License Deal

LONDON (AP) -- Warner Music Group resolved its copyright battle with Udio and signed a deal to work with the AI music startup on a new song creation service that will allow users to remix tunes by established artists. It's the second agreement between a major record label and Udio, a chatbot-style song generation tool. The deals underline how AI is shaking up the music industry. AI-generated music has been flooding streaming services amid the rise of song generators that instantly spit out new tunes based on prompts typed in by users without any musical knowledge. The synthetic music boom has also resulted in a wave of AI singers and bands that have climbed the charts after racking up millions of streams, even though they don't exist in real life. Warner, which represents artists including Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa, has resolved its copyright infringement litigation against Udio, the two companies said. They've also established "a clear framework" for developing Udio's licensed AI music creation service that's set to launch in 2026. They provided no financial details on their agreement, which includes Warner's recording and publishing businesses, but it will create "new revenue streams for artists and songwriters, while ensuring their work remains protected." It's similar to an agreement that Universal Music Group signed last month with Udio, which triggered a huge backlash because Udio stopped users from downloading the songs they created. Udio said it will remain a "closed-system" as it prepares to launch the new service next year. If artists and songwriters choose to let their works be used, they'll be credited and paid when users remix or cover their songs, or make new tunes with their voices and compositions, the companies said. Sony Music Entertainment remains the only major record company that hasn't yet signed an AI licensing deal with Udio or Suno, after filing suit against them last year over copyright alongside Universal and Warner. Suno hasn't yet signed a deal with any major label. Also Wednesday, Warner unveiled a deal to work with another artificial intelligence company, Stability AI, on developing "professional-grade tools" for musicians, songwriters and producers.

AI music platform Suno unveils deal with Warner to compensate artists

Suno and Warner Music Group have partnered to compensate artists for AI-generated music, resolving a lawsuit over unauthorized catalog use. This landmark pact allows artists to opt-in for their likeness and compositions to be used in new AI creations, opening new revenue streams. The agreement follows a similar deal between Udio and Universal Music Group. The US 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 monetisation, 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.

AI-Music Heavyweight Suno Partners With Warner Music Group After Lawsuit Settlement

R.E.M., Hootie, Black Crowes Supergroup Tells All: Meet Howl Owl Howl In the strongest sign yet that the world's biggest record labels are embracing AI, leading AI-music platform Suno announced Tuesday that it has settled Warner Music Group's lawsuit over the use of its songs in Suno's training data, and Suno and WMG are partnering on "next-generation licensed AI music." "This landmark pact with Suno is a victory for the creative community that benefits everyone," Robert Kyncl, CEO of Warner Music Group, said in a statement. "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." The deal follows Suno's announcement last week of a $250 million funding round. Suno CEO Mikey Shulman -- whose company says it's attracted 100 million users, and is the engine behind most viral AI music -- called the deal "a paradigm shift in how music is made, consumed, experienced and shared." In a blog post addressed to Suno's user community, he emphasized that Suno's existing functioning -- which includes the creation of songs from written prompts and uploaded audio -- will continue. "You'll still be able to create original songs the way you love today," he wrote. "Our core experience remains focused on giving everyone access to powerful music creation." He promised that even higher quality music-creation models are coming, trained on licensed music from WMG -- it's unclear whether artists will be allowed to opt out of inclusion in that training data. In June 2024, Warner Music Group joined Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment in filing lawsuits against both Suno and its much smaller rival Udio, accusing the AI companies of mass copyright infringement. The labels alleged that both platforms had trained their models on vast troves of copyrighted recordings without permission -- a practice the AI companies defended as fair use. Universal Music Group settled with Udio in late October, followed by Warner's own settlement with Udio last week. The Music Artists Coalition, a nonprofit founded by legendary artist manager Irving Azoff, has cautiously welcomed the recent wave of AI deals while raising pointed questions about their terms. "We've seen this before -- everyone talks about 'partnership,' but artists end up on the sidelines with scraps," Azoff said in a statement following the Universal-Udio settlement last month. "Artists must have creative control, fair compensation, and clarity about deals being done based on their catalogs." (The Music Artists Coalition did not immediately return Rolling Stone's request for comment on the Suno-WMG deal.) Udio's deal with Universal meant that users would no longer be able to download their creations from the platform -- which led to an outcry from users -- but Suno reached more favorable terms with WMG: Downloads will continue for paid users, subject to a monthly limit to be announced. (Suno Studio, aimed at power users, will continue to have unlimited downloads.) "We know being able to download the songs you make in Suno is very important to the Suno community, and that functionality isn't going away," Shulman wrote. The Suno-WMG deal will also introduce what Suno describes as "new experiences for fan engagement," allowing users to create content featuring participating Warner artists' voices, compositions, and likenesses. Artists and songwriters will have full control over whether to opt in, according to both companies. Those who do will gain access to new revenue streams; those who don't will simply be absent from the AI-powered features. As part of the deal, Suno acquired the concert-discovery platform Songkick from WMG -- the idea, the company's press release says, is to bring "together the power of interactive music with live performance." Neither company disclosed financial terms of the settlement or the ongoing partnership. In the end, Shulman promised Suno users, "We're heading towards a world where people don't just press play -- they play with their music."

Warner Music and AI startup Udio settle copyright battle and ink license deal

Warner Music Group resolved its copyright battle with Udio and signed a deal to work with the AI music startup on a new song creation service that will allow users to remix tunes by established artists. Warner Music Group resolved its copyright battle with Udio and signed a deal to work with the AI music startup on a new song creation service that will allow users to remix tunes by established artists. It's the second agreement between a major record label and Udio, a chatbot-style song generation tool. The deals underline how AI is shaking up the music industry. AI-generated music has been flooding streaming services amid the rise of song generators that instantly spit out new tunes based on prompts typed in by users without any musical knowledge. The synthetic music boom has also resulted in a wave of AI singers and bands that have climbed the charts after racking up millions of streams, even though they don't exist in real life. Warner, which represents artists including Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa, has resolved its copyright infringement litigation against Udio, the two companies said. They've also established "a clear framework" for developing Udio's licensed AI music creation service that's set to launch in 2026. They provided no financial details on their agreement, which includes Warner's recording and publishing businesses, but it will create "new revenue streams for artists and songwriters, while ensuring their work remains protected." It's similar to an agreement that Universal Music Group signed last month with Udio, which triggered a huge backlash because Udio stopped users from downloading the songs they created. Udio said it will remain a "closed-system" as it prepares to launch the new service next year. If artists and songwriters choose to let their works be used, they'll be credited and paid when users remix or cover their songs, or make new tunes with their voices and compositions, the companies said. Sony Music Entertainment remains the only major record company that hasn't yet signed an AI licensing deal with Udio or Suno, after filing suit against them last year over copyright alongside Universal and Warner. Suno hasn't yet signed a deal with any major label. Also Wednesday, Warner unveiled a deal to work with another artificial intelligence company, Stability AI, on developing "professional-grade tools" for musicians, songwriters and producers.

Warner Music Settles Legal War With Suno In Landmark AI Partnership

Warner Music Group is settling its landmark infringement lawsuit against AI music generation platform Suno, the companies announced Tuesday, with WMG becoming the first of the major record labels to officially partner with the company. Neither WMG nor Suno disclosed financial details of the settlement or of the new partnership beyond saying that it would be "compensating and protecting artists, songwriters, and the wider creative community." "This landmark pact with Suno is a victory for the creative community that benefits everyone," WMG CEO Robert Kyncl said in a statement of the new deal. "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." WMG and Suno said that with the partnership, Suno will be launching "new, more advanced and licensed models" for music generation, adding that Suno's current models will be phased out. As was the case with the Udio settlement, WMG's Suno deal is putting new limitations on downloads for users. Suno said that moving forward, only Suno's paid tier subscribers will be able to download their creations off-platform, and paid users will also have download caps, having to pay more for more downloads. Such a move seems to be WMG seeking to address the thousands of AI tracks made on Suno that subsequently flood streaming services with content. The deal comes over a year after WMG first sued Suno and rival AI music generator Udio alongside the other "big three" major music companies Universal Music Group and Sony Music Group, with the companies accusing the music generators of ripping millions of songs without permission to train their models. UMG was the first to announce a settlement of either company when it settled with Udio last month, and WMG followed with a Udio settlement of its own last week. Both UMG and Sony are still in litigation with Suno as of this story's publication, and Sony is still suing both companies. As part of the deal, the companies also revealed that Suno is acquiring Songkick from WMG, but the companies didn't specify financial details of the acquisition. The news comes just over a week after Suno had announced it had closed a $250 million funding round that values the company at $2.45 billion. That deal was led by prolific Silicon Valley VC firm Menlo Ventures, and also included NVIDIA's VC arm NVentures and Hallwood Media, the music company founded by former Geffen Records president Neil Jacobson. "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," Suno CEO Mikey Shulman said in a statement. "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."

Warner Music Group Settles AI Infringement Lawsuit With Udio

AI Music Platform Suno Secures $250 Million in Funding, Reports $2.45 Billion Valuation Warner Music Group is settling its copyright infringement lawsuit against AI music generation platform Udio, the companies announced Wednesday morning, marking Udio's second settlement with the major music companies in less than a month. WMG and Udio didn't disclose financial details of the settlement, though like the settlement agreement Udio entered with Universal Music Group at the end of October, the latest settlement opens the door for a new platform Udio is launching in 2026, with licensed music from the WMG recorded and publishing catalog. Among artists on WMG's roster are Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Cardi B, Dua Lipa and Charli XCX among many others. "We're unwaveringly committed to the protection of the rights of our artists and songwriters, and Udio has taken meaningful steps to ensure that the music on its service will be authorized and licensed," WMG CEO Robert Kyncl said in a statement. "This collaboration aligns with our broader efforts to responsibly unlock AI's potential - fueling new creative and commercial possibilities while continuing to deliver innovative experiences for fans." With the settlement, Sony Music Group is the lone major record label currently in litigation against Udio. All three of the major labels are still suing prominent AI music platform Suno, which today announced a Menlo Ventures-led $250 million funding round that values the company at $2.45 billion. Udio confirmed the deal would be an opt-in offer for those on the WMG roster. The company said that it would be introducing new safeguards in its upcoming model such as "fingerprinting and filtering" to ensure artists and songwriters are properly credited on AI tracks. Settling with WMG is the latest in Udio's shift as it moves more toward fan engagement, with the company's new coming model promising features like remixes and covers as well as new songs based around participating artists on the labels' rosters. "Collaborating with WMG marks a significant milestone in our mission to redefine how AI and the music industry evolve together," Andrew Sanchez, Co-Founder and CEO of Udio, said in a statement. "This partnership is a crucial step towards realizing a future in which technology amplifies creativity and unlocks new opportunities for artists and songwriters. Our new platform will enable experiences where fans can create alongside their favorite artists and make extraordinary music in an environment that offers artists control and connection. We're absolutely thrilled to be working with WMG in creating this new future." The news comes a day before WMG is set to reveal its Q4 earnings tomorrow. It's not the only AI partnership the company revealed Wednesday, with WMG also announcing a partnership with Stability AI to develop a suite of "ethically trained AI tools" for music creation. On Wednesday, WMG's EVP and chief digital officer Carletta Higginson called the Stability deal "an important step toward developing responsible, artist-friendly AI tools that expand creative possibilities while safeguarding the rights and integrity of music creators."

Warner Music Signs Deal With Suno for Licensed AI Music Models

Following a lawsuit, Warner Music Group, one of America's leading multinational record label conglomerates, announced its partnership with Suno AI, a US-based generative AI music platform. This move signals a significant shift in how the music industry is adapting to AI technology, which was once seen as an uninvited threat. As a result of this partnership, the GenAI music company also announced that it will generate licensed generative AI music using its upcoming AI models in 2026. As seen in OpenAI's Sora case and other such instances, copyright infringement in AI-generated content has been a significant problem for copyright and intellectual property rights holders. Hence, the licence-based partnerships among media companies and AI companies pave a clear path that respects the rights of the original artists. In June 2024, various music labels, including UMG, Sony Music, and Warner Music, collectively filed a complaint against the Suno AI company, alleging that the AI startup had allegedly infringed on their music copyrights. A complaint was filed in the US District Court of Massachusetts, requesting an injunction and statutory damages of up to $150,000 per work infringed. According to the complaint, Suno allegedly trained its AI model on a large collection of copyrighted sound recordings owned by the above-mentioned recording labels, beginning with mass copying and "scraping" audio from digital sources, cleaning and converting the files, and repeatedly copying them during processing and fine-tuning. The labels said Suno's system then generates audio based on user prompts by drawing on this training data, and they claim the model shows signs of "overfitting." It refers to the ability of AI models to reproduce elements of the copyrighted tracks based on training data, such as generating a jazz song that resembles an existing recording when prompted with "a jazz song about New York". In their complaint, the music labels rejected Suno's fair use defence, arguing their platform produces imitative, AI-generated music rather than supporting human expression. They said Suno fails all four statutory fair-use factors: The music labels also stated that Suno AI undermines the music ecosystem, strips artists of control, and fosters the view that copyrighted music is "free for the taking". The complaint cited an investor who allegedly admitted Suno avoided licensing early because it would have made the company less attractive to investors, indicating an intent to build the product "without the constraints" of copyright compliance. Referring to the use of copyrighted material for training AI models and content generation, Suno AI mentioned the upcoming generation of Suno models, which can produce "high-quality licensed music". Meanwhile, Robert Kyncl, CEO of Warner Music Group, claimed, "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." He further explained how Warner Music has seized the good opportunity to "shape models that expand revenue and deliver new fan experiences" with "Suno rapidly scaling, both in users and monetisation". According to Warner Music Group's press release, Suno will overhaul its platform in 2026 by introducing new licensed AI music models and retiring its current ones. Downloading audio will require a paid account. Free-tier songs will no longer be downloadable and will only be playable or shareable. In contrast, paid users will face monthly download limits, with the option to purchase additional downloads.

Warner Music Group, Udio settle copyright case, plan new AI song creation platform

Warner Music Group has settled a copyright infringement case with artificial intelligence company Udio and will jointly launch a new platform for song creation in 2026, the companies said on Wednesday. The new subscription service, which will be powered by AI models trained on licensed and authorized songs, enables new revenue streams for the artistes and songwriters while protecting their work. Universal Music Group has also settled a similar copyright case with Udio last month. The deals come at a time when a surge in AI-generated tracks has triggered some platforms like Deezer to clearly mark AI-generated music due to ethical and copyright concerns. Udio's rival Suno, which raised US$250 million at $2.45 billion valuation, has also been caught in a copyright dispute with Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Group. Both companies allow users to generate songs using AI-powered text prompts. The record labels had sued Udio and Suno last year, alleging the AI companies copied hundreds of songs from some of the world's most popular musicians to teach their systems to create music that will "directly compete with, cheapen, and ultimately drown out" human artists. Udio and Suno said the use of copyrighted sound recordings to train their systems qualifies as fair use under U.S. copyright law, and they called the lawsuits attempts to stifle independent competition. Recently, a Deezer and Ipsos survey reveled that a staggering 97 per cent of listeners cannot distinguish between AI-generated and human-composed songs, fanning fears that AI could upend how music is created, consumed and monetized. A May survey by Luminate found the majority of U.S. audiences were indifferent to or accepting of AI use in cinema tasks like visual effects, but skeptical of AI-written scripts or synthetic actors.

Warner Music Group settles copyright lawsuit with AI music startup Suno By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) and AI music startup Suno have settled their copyright lawsuit and formed a new partnership that will allow for licensed AI music creation. The settlement resolves litigation that began last year when major record labels, including Warner and Universal Music Group, sued Suno and competitor Udio for allegedly using copyrighted material without proper compensation. Under the new partnership, Suno will make significant changes to its platform in 2026, including launching new licensed AI models while phasing out current ones. The deal will require users to pay for downloading songs, with free tier users only able to play and share music without downloads. Paid subscribers will face monthly download limits with options to purchase additional downloads. "This landmark pact with Suno is a victory for the creative community that benefits everyone," said Robert Kyncl, CEO of Warner Music Group. "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." As part of the agreement, Suno has acquired Songkick, a concert-discovery platform, from Warner Music Group. The companies aim to create new revenue streams for artists and songwriters while giving them control over how their work is used in AI-generated music. Suno, which allows users to create songs through text prompts, recently raised $250 million at a $2.45 billion valuation. The company reports that nearly 100 million people have used its platform to create music over the past two years. This settlement follows similar agreements between major labels and AI music platforms, including recent deals between Warner and Universal Music Group with Udio. This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Warner Music stock rises after AI partnership with Udio resolves litigation By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Warner Music Group (NASDAQ:WMG) stock rose 2.5% on Wednesday after the company announced a landmark agreement with Udio that resolves their copyright infringement litigation and establishes a framework for a licensed AI music creation service. The agreement allows Udio to develop a next-generation music creation platform powered by generative AI models trained on licensed and authorized music. The service, set to launch in 2026, will create new revenue streams for artists and songwriters while ensuring their work remains protected. Under the partnership, Udio's subscription service will enable users to make remixes, covers, and new songs using the voices of participating artists and compositions of songwriters. The platform will ensure artists and songwriters are credited and paid for their contributions. "We're unwaveringly committed to the protection of the rights of our artists and songwriters, and Udio has taken meaningful steps to ensure that the music on its service will be authorized and licensed," said Robert Kyncl, CEO of WMG. In a separate announcement, Warner Music also revealed a collaboration with Stability AI to develop professional-grade tools for artists, songwriters, and producers using ethically trained models. This initiative aims to unlock new forms of creative expression while protecting creators' rights. Udio will continue providing access to its current closed system as it transitions to fully-licensed applications in 2026. The company's CEO Andrew Sanchez described the partnership as "a crucial step towards realizing a future in which technology amplifies creativity and unlocks new opportunities for artists and songwriters." This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Warner Music Group settles copyright case with Suno for licensed AI music

(Reuters) -Warner Music Group settled its copyright infringement case with artificial intelligence-powered song creation platform Suno, enabling the startup to launch licensed AI models next year, the companies said on Tuesday. Suno's rival Udio has also settled its copyright dispute with Warner Music and Universal Music Group recently, as music companies look to open new revenue streams for the artists and songwriters, while protecting their work. Major record labels are trying to safeguard their vast catalogs in a sharply evolving music industry, where a surge in AI-generated music has raised ethical concerns, with users unable to distinguish AI content from human-composed songs. Under the deal, Suno will introduce new licensed AI models that will replace its current versions in 2026. Suno, which last week raised $250 million at a $2.45 billion valuation, said it will also implement download restrictions, making songs created on the free tier playable and shareable only, while paid users will have monthly download limits with options to purchase more. "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," Suno CEO Mikey Shulman said in a statement. The record labels sued Udio and Suno last year, alleging the AI companies copied hundreds of songs from some of the world's most popular musicians to teach their systems to create music that will "directly compete with, cheapen, and ultimately drown out" human artists. Udio and Suno had said the use of copyrighted sound recordings to train their systems qualifies as fair use under U.S. copyright law, and they called the lawsuits attempts to stifle independent competition. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)

WARNER MUSIC GROUP AND SUNO FORGE GROUNDBREAKING PARTNERSHIP

Companies will collaborate on next-generation licensed AI music that empowers the creative community and opens new revenue opportunities for artists and songwriters NEW YORK, Nov. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Warner Music Group (Nasdaq: WMG), one of the world's largest music companies, and Suno, the leader in AI music, today announced a first-of-its-kind partnership that will open new frontiers in music creation, interaction, and discovery, while both compensating and protecting artists, songwriters, and the wider creative community. The deal brings together Suno's best-in-class AI capabilities with WMG's artist development leadership and expertise at the intersection of music and technology. The deal also settles previous litigation between the companies. Robert Kyncl, CEO, WMG said: "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." Mikey Shulman, CEO, 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." In 2026, Suno will make several changes to the platform, including launching new, more advanced and licensed models. When the new models launch in 2026, the current models will be deprecated. Moving forward, downloading audio will require a paid account. 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 download caps with the ability to pay for more downloads. With a goal to continue building with the music community, Suno has also acquired Songkick, the live music, concert-discovery platform, from Warner Music Group, and will continue to run it as a successful fan destination, bringing together the power of interactive music with live performance. The combination of Suno and Songkick will create new potential to deepen the artist-fan connection. The partnership will build on what 100 million creators love about Suno while allowing artists and songwriters to benefit from new revenue streams, and adding 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. Together, WMG and Suno are committed to forging a blueprint for a next-generation licensed AI music platform. About Warner Music Group Warner Music Group (WMG) brings together artists, songwriters, entrepreneurs, and technology that are moving entertainment culture across the globe. Operating in more than 70 countries through a network of affiliates and licensees, WMG's Recorded Music division includes renowned labels such as 10K Projects, 300 Entertainment, Asylum, Atlantic, Big Beat, EastWest, Elektra, Erato, First Night, Fueled By Ramen, Nonesuch, Parlophone, Reprise, Rhino, Roadrunner, Sire, Spinnin', Warner Records, Warner Classics, and Warner Records Nashville. WMG's music publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, has a catalog of over one million copyrights spanning every musical genre, from the standards of the Great American Songbook to the biggest hits of the 21st century. Warner Music Group is also home to ADA, which supports the independent community, as well as artist services division WMX. Follow WMG on Instagram, X, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Facebook. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/warner-music-group-and-suno-forge-groundbreaking-partnership-302626017.html

Warner Music Group Corp. and Udio Collaborate to Build A New Licensed Music Creation Service

Warner Music Group Corp. and Udio announced a landmark agreement that resolves the companies' copyright infringement litigation and establishes a clear framework for the development of Udio's licensed AI music creation service, set to launch in 2026. Through this collaboration, Udio will develop a next-generation music creation, listening, and discovery platform powered by generative AI models trained on licensed and authorized music. The agreement--which spans WMG's recorded music and music publishing businesses--creates new revenue streams for artists and songwriters, while ensuring their work remains protected. Udio's reimagined subscription service will introduce a suite of creative experiences that enable users to make remixes, covers, and new songs using the voices of artists and compositions of songwriters who choose to participate, while ensuring artists and songwriters are credited and paid. Ahead of the launch, Udio will also be rolling out expanded protections and other measures designed to safeguard the rights of artists and songwriters. This new offering represents a significant evolution for Udio, shifting the company's focus to a platform built in collaboration with artists and songwriters. To support a smooth transition, Udio will continue providing access to its current, closed-system as Udio transitions into serving fully-licensed applications in 2026.