Warner Music Group Settles Lawsuit, Begins Partnership With AI Music Platform Suno

Warner Music Group has partnered with AI music platform Suno in the wake of a year-long legal fight over copyright infringement.

After spending the past year on the attack, Warner Music Group has switched directions and struck a deal with Suno, the AI music platform it previously accused of large-scale copyright infringement. What began as one of the most closely watched legal clashes in the AI music conversation has now turned into a formal partnership, marking a major shift in how one of the biggest labels is choosing to handle AI-made songs.

The new arrangement, as reported by Rolling Stone, surfaced after Suno revealed that it had settled its lawsuit with Warner and that the two companies would be moving forward together on what they are calling “next generation licensed AI music.”

The original lawsuit, filed in 2024, aligned Warner with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, both of which had argued that Suno and competitor Udio trained their models on huge libraries of copyrighted recordings without permission. The companies behind the AI platforms defended their training practices as fair use, but the labels pressed ahead for months. Universal settled in October, and now Warner has chosen to settle as well, seemingly on some pretty good terms given the partnership.

Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl framed the partnership as a turning point, saying in a statement, “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.”

“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.”

Suno CEO Mikey Shulman called the deal “a paradigm shift in how music is made, consumed, experienced and shared.” In a message to users, he reassured them that “You’ll still be able to create original songs the way you love today. Our core experience remains focused on giving everyone access to powerful music creation.”

Suno currently drives much of the AI song activity online and claims an active user base of more than 100 million, and a reported 7 million songs created by users every single day. The company also secured another $250 million in funding recently, positioning it for rapid expansion.

Shulman said Suno users will eventually have access to higher quality models trained on licensed Warner Music Group recordings, though there has been no clarity on whether artists will be offered control over how their music is used within the system.