NEW YORK, November 25, 2025 – Warner Music Group has dismissed its copyright infringement suit against AI music startup Suno, replacing it with a licensing deal that grants the platform access to WMG’s catalog under strict artist controls.

The agreement also transfers ownership of WMG’s concert discovery service Songkick to Suno, potentially linking AI creation with live-event recommendations.

The settlement resolves a June filing by WMG, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music, which charged Suno and competitor Udio with training AI models on unlicensed recordings scraped from the internet.

Suno had defended the approach as fair use, claiming it transformed existing works like search engines do. Court documents showed Suno drawing from nearly all accessible high-quality music files online.

Key provisions give artists and songwriters opt-in rights over their voices, likenesses, and compositions in AI outputs, preventing default inclusion. Suno must roll out licensed, advanced models in 2026, retiring current versions.

Free users can generate and share tracks but not download them; paid accounts face monthly limits, with add-ons available for purchase.

WMG CEO Robert Kyncl described the terms as a model for ethical AI: “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 said in a company release .

The Songkick acquisition, a WMG asset for tour tracking and alerts, will operate independently under Suno, aiming to foster artist-fan engagement. Suno, valued at $500 million after a $125 million funding round, gains legitimacy through the deal, which echoes WMG’s earlier arrangement with Udio.

Ongoing litigation persists with Universal and Sony against both firms, while broader talks involve YouTube on AI training data, as noted in industry coverage . For music labels, these pacts offer revenue streams without full concessions; for AI developers, they provide vetted datasets amid regulatory scrutiny.

The resolution could encourage similar truces, easing tensions as generative tools encroach on creative industries, though full industry consensus remains elusive.