There’s been another settlement in the legal battle between the major labels and AI companies and an agreement which will see the creation of a new legal AI music platform.
A week after Warner settled with Udio, the label has concluded another agreement with Suno. The deal has reportedly been designed to introduce a licensed model into Suno’s offerings. Crucially, it seems artists will have to opt in to the system. They will retain “full control” of their music, their likeness, and other copyright details, while also overseeing how AI uses that likeness.
"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," said Warners in a statement. However, they did not let slip which artists had agreed to opt-in to the programme.
"The deal also settles previous litigation between the companies," it added. As part of the package, it has also been reported that Suno will also acquire the concert listings platform Songkick.
The deal – together with the one Warners inked last week with Udio and the partnership all three majors announced with AI start-up Klay – represents an attempt by the record industry to get on top of the proliferation of AI ‘slop’ which is an increasing problem clogging up streaming platforms. To do this, Warners, Universal and Sony have had to meet the tech companies halfway – hence the rush to settle the outstanding litigation between the various parties.
It means that the current Suno models will be phased out, to be replaced by a new licensed platform, though not ‘fully licensed’ - that would require agreement across all three majors.
