Warner Music Group (WMG) has withdrawn its copyright infringement lawsuit against artificial intelligence-powered music production platform Suno. In return, the company signed a new collaboration agreement with Suno, allowing artists to license their music and likenesses. Warner Music, which had previously reached a similar compromise with the AI music platform Udio, has thus entered a licensing-oriented direction in its approach to AI-based music technologies.
Before this development, many major music companies, including Warner Music, accused Suno and Udio of including copyright-protected music into their artificial intelligence models without permission. The companies claimed that these platforms committed copyright infringement on a “very large scale”.
Warner Music also sold Songkick app to Suno
According to the statement, under the agreement, artists and songwriters will have full control over whether their names, images, voices and musical works will be used in new tracks created with AI. This structure reflects the “opt-in” approach that was also included in Warner Music’s previous agreement with Udio. In other words, artists will need to give consent to be included in this system; By default, no content will be shared.
Warner Music CEO Robert Kyncl stated in his statement on the subject that AI technologies must comply with some principles in order to work in favor of artists. These include using licensed models, protecting the value of the music on and off the platform, and not using any elements without the permission of the artists.
On the Suno side, it was reported that significant changes will be made to the technical infrastructure of the platform. WMG announced that Suno will commission more advanced and licensed models in 2026, and existing AI models will be retired after this date. Additionally, music download features on Suno are also being restructured. Now, while free users cannot download songs, they can only listen and share them. Paid users will be able to download a limited number of songs per month and purchase additional download rights if necessary.
Another notable development within the framework of the agreement was Suno’s acquisition of Songkick, the concert discovery application owned by Warner Music. WMG stated that this merger has the potential to strengthen the bond between artist and listener. Although Suno’s main field of activity is artificial intelligence-supported music production, its acquisition of a social interaction-oriented platform such as Songkick may indicate the company’s plans to expand community-based features in the future.