Warner Music Group Forges ‘Landmark’ AI Partnership with Suno, Resolves Copyright Dispute
NEW YORK – November 21, 2024 – Warner Music Group (WMG) today announced a “landmark” strategic partnership with AI music generator Suno, simultaneously revealing a settlement to a prior copyright lawsuit against the company. The deal aims to unlock new creative opportunities for WMGS artists while building the “biggest music ecosystem possible,” according to WMG CEO Robert Kyncl.
the partnership arrives days after Suno closed a $250 million Series C funding round at a $2.45 billion post-money valuation, generating $200 million in annual revenue. Menlo Ventures lead the round, with participation from NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), Hallwood Media, Lightspeed, adn matrix.
This move signals a meaningful shift in the music industry’s approach to artificial intelligence, following a year of legal battles over copyright infringement. In late 2023, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), representing Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and WMG, sued both Suno and Udio for “mass infringement” of copyright.
WMG has as settled lawsuits with both Udio and Universal Music Group, also striking licensing deals with each company for ‘next-generation’ AI music platforms slated for launch in 2026. WMG also announced a separate partnership with Stability AI earlier this week to develop “responsible AI tools for music creation.”
Despite these settlements,copyright claims against Suno persist from collection management organizations including denmark’s Koda and Germany’s GEMA.
