Suno & WMG Ink Licensing Deal, Effectively Settling WMG’s Legal Claims Against the AI Music Company

Suno and Warner Music Group (WMG) have signed a licensing agreement to forge “a new chapter in music creation,” as Suno CEO Mikey Shulman put it in a company blog post. The deal effectively settles WMG’s part of the $500 million copyright infringement lawsuit against Suno, which it filed alongside UMG and Sony Music last summer. (UMG and Sony Music’s part of the lawsuit is still ongoing).

The deal also includes Suno’s acquisition of the WMG-owned live music discovery platform Songkick, which will continue to run as-is. “The combination of Suno and Songkick will create new potential to deepen the artist-fan connection,” says a press release about the deal.

As Suno’s blog post puts it, the licensing agreement with WMG “introduces new opportunities for artists and songwriters to get paid,” but it does not describe exactly how. It does, however, note that participating is optional for WMG artists and songwriters, who can “opt-in” for the use of their names, images, likenesses, voices and compositions to be used in AI-generated music as they wish. A press release about the deal also notes that it will “compensat[e] and protect artists, songwriters and the wider creative community.”

The blog post also states that the WMG partnership “unlocks a bigger richer Suno experience for you,” including “new, more robust features for creation, opportunities to collaborate and interact with some of the most talented musicians in the world.” It adds that the deal “preserves the magic of Suno and the way you’ve come to love creating with it.”

News of the agreement comes just weeks after Universal Music Group (UMG) forged a licensing deal with Udio, which was also sued by the majors in a near identical lawsuit. That deal resulted in Udio pivoting its service significantly, becoming more of a fan-engagement platform where users could play with UMG copyrights whose rights holders opted into the platform’s “walled garden” environment, rather than one where users can create and download AI-generated songs at the click of a button. WMG followed suit with a similar agreement on Nov. 19.

The press release states that in 2026, Suno will make several changes to the platform, including launching new and improved licensed music-making models, but it is not pivoting away from its core offerings. When that new model rolls out, the release says that the current one will be “deprecated,” given that it is not licensed. “Moving forward, downloading audio will require a paid account. Suno will introduce download restrictions in certain scenarios: specifically in the future, songs made on the free tier will not be downloadable and will instead be playable and shareable,” the release adds. Paid users of Suno will also be limited in the number of downloads they can make each month; to unlock additional downloads, they will have to pay extra fees.

“This landmark pact with Suno is a victory for the creative community that benefits everyone,” said WMG CEO Robert Kyncl in a statement. “With Suno rapidly scaling, both in users and monetization, 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 Shulman added: “Our partnership with Warner Music unlocks a bigger, richer Suno experience for music lovers, and accelerates our mission to change the place of music in the world by making it more valuable to billions of people. Together, we can enhance how music is made, consumed, experienced and shared. This means we’ll be rolling out new, more robust features for creation, opportunities to collaborate and interact with some of the most talented musicians in the world, all while continuing to build the biggest music ecosystem possible.”