Warner Music Sued Suno. Now It Wants a Cut

Editor’s note: This article was updated on September 10, 2026, to include Universal Music Group’s AI music agreement with ElevenLabs.

In 2024, Warner Music accused Suno of training an AI music system with recordings it didn’t have permission to use.

Warner-licensed music is now part of Suno’s newest generation of models.

On September 9, Suno launched v6, v6-Wild and v6-mini, developed with Warner Music Group, BMG and Believe. Suno plans to retire its previous models as it moves users onto the v6 generation.

Warner settled its lawsuit against Suno in November 2025 and agreed to supply licensed music for new products. BMG later signed its own agreement. Participating artists and labels represented by Believe and TuneCore can also contribute music to the models.

Warner’s role now includes supplying licensed material for Suno products. The agreement creates new revenue opportunities for Warner and participating artists, although the companies haven’t disclosed how the money is calculated or divided.

Warner Became a Suno Supplier

Warner Records joined Sony Music and Universal Music Group in suing Suno in June 2024.

The labels alleged that Suno copied copyrighted recordings without permission to train its music-generation system. They said the resulting product could generate music resembling existing recordings and compete with the artists whose work appeared in the training data.

Suno argued that its training practices were protected by fair use.

Warner’s November 2025 settlement ended its claims against Suno, authorized the use of licensed music in later models and established an opt-in framework for participating artists and songwriters.

Warner can now license the recordings and compositions it controls for new Suno products. The companies haven’t disclosed the fees, revenue formula or payment schedule.

Licensed Music Is Now Inside V6

Suno says its v6 models were developed with Warner, BMG and Believe. The three versions serve different users:

• v6 is the flagship model available to Pro and Premier subscribers.
• v6-Wild produces less predictable results for paid subscribers.
• v6-mini is a faster model available to all users.

Suno says the models follow detailed instructions more accurately and allow users to edit individual lyrics, sections and production choices through written prompts. Users can provide text, audio, images and video as inputs.

Customers will judge the v6 models on output quality, speed and creative control.

The agreements do not identify which Warner or BMG recordings were used, how much of the training material they represent or how individual works affect the results. Believe’s agreement covers only artists and labels that choose to participate.

Those missing details make it impossible to determine how much licensed music supports each model or how Suno separates authorized training material from data used to build its previous systems.

Warner Added AI Models to Its Licensing Business

Suno and its partners haven’t disclosed the payments attached to the agreements.

Suno says more than 100 million people have used the product. The company raised more than $400 million in June at a $5.4 billion valuation.

Warner can now license music for AI model development and future products built around participating artists. That creates another use for the catalog alongside streaming, social video, games, fitness services and other digital platforms.

Suno also acquired Songkick from Warner as part of the agreement. Songkick gives Suno an established concert-discovery product containing artist pages, event listings and ticket links.

The agreement adds AI model development and music-creation products to the catalog uses Warner can license.

Warner’s agreement is already becoming part of a wider label strategy. Universal Music Group announced a multiyear licensing agreement with ElevenLabs to build a separate AI platform where fans can create remixes, mashups and new interpretations using music from participating UMG artists. Artist participation will be optional, and the companies haven’t disclosed how compensation will be calculated.

The major labels can license different catalogs to competing creation platforms instead of choosing one AI partner. The AI companies receive authorized music and clearer commercial rights. The labels retain control over participation and negotiate for part of the revenue. Neither agreement explains which activity generates a payment for an individual artist.

Suno Put Most Downloads Behind a Paywall

Suno has also changed how generated tracks leave its platform.

Under the download policy introduced September 3, free users who joined before that date can receive up to seven lifetime trial downloads for personal use. New free users may occasionally receive trial downloads.

Pro accounts include 20 downloads per month. Premier accounts include 60. Customers can purchase additional downloads, while Premier subscribers using Suno Studio receive unlimited downloads.

Suno says songs downloaded through paid plans can be used commercially.

The policy places the paywall around export and commercial use. Customers can continue creating, playing and sharing songs inside Suno without paying. Moving those files into distribution, licensing or another commercial project generally requires a paid account.

The limits create subscription and transaction revenue from customers producing the most downloadable music. The companies haven’t said whether compensation for rights holders is tied to subscriptions, individual downloads or another measurement.

Believe Reopened Its Distribution System

Believe blocked music created with Suno’s previous models from distribution through Believe and TuneCore in April.

Its September agreement makes tracks created with Suno’s industry-partner model eligible for distribution. Participating Believe and TuneCore artists and labels can also allow their music to be included in Suno models and opt into future licensed products.

Believe says participating rights holders will be compensated. The companies haven’t disclosed the payment formula.

The arrangement gives Suno access to participating independent music and a route into major streaming services through Believe and TuneCore. Believe receives additional tracks to distribute and another potential source of revenue for its artists and labels.

Suno says distributed tracks will carry audio watermarks and fingerprints designed to identify them outside the platform and reduce fraud.

Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and other services will still apply their own rules covering AI disclosures, upload volume, recommendation systems and royalty eligibility. Believe’s approval allows a track into distribution. Each streaming service controls what happens after delivery.

Warner Can License Only the Rights It Controls

A recording can involve several rights and contracts.

A label may control the master recording. A publisher or songwriter may control the composition. Performers can retain contractual claims involving their work. Artists can also hold rights covering their names, images, voices and likenesses.

The Warner agreement says artists and songwriters will decide whether those personal attributes and compositions can be used in new AI products. Suno says it blocks prompts requesting a known artist or copyrighted song.

Two pending lawsuits cover rights and contracts outside Warner’s settlement.

Jason Isbell, David Lowery, Guy Forsyth and Eduardo Calle sued Suno in August. They allege that the platform used their identities to generate songs in their styles without permission. Suno says the claims lack merit and maintains that it blocks prompts naming specific artists.

The American Federation of Musicians has separately sued Warner and Universal. The union alleges that the labels violated labor agreements by licensing recordings involving union musicians without obtaining permission or providing compensation.

Warner’s settlement resolves claims held by Warner. Musicians, songwriters and performers can continue pursuing claims attached to their own rights and contracts.

The Deals Don’t Explain How Artists Get Paid

Streaming royalties attach to an identifiable event. A listener plays a particular recording, and the service connects that play with the rights holders registered for the track.

AI model revenue lacks an equivalent public accounting rule.

Compensation could be triggered when music enters the training data, when a customer uses an artist-specific product, when a generated output reflects an identifiable work or when Suno collects subscription and download revenue.

The announced agreements don’t disclose which events create a payment or how the money is divided.

Warner’s acquisition of AI detection company Sureel gave it technology designed to identify copyrighted music inside training systems and generated outputs. Warner could use that information to determine which recordings contributed to a model or appeared in generated music.

The company hasn’t said whether Sureel will be used to calculate Suno payments.

Artists have been promised control and compensation. The companies still need to show which artists participate, what activity generates revenue and how much money reaches each rights holder.

The Streaming Wars Take

Warner is helping create a market for licensed AI training material.

The settlement made access to Warner’s catalog part of a commercial agreement. Suno’s v6 launch places that licensed material inside a product customers can use, while Warner and participating rights holders gain another source of licensing revenue. The companies haven’t disclosed the payment formula.

AI video companies will pursue similar agreements covering footage, scripts, characters, performances, voices and likenesses. Studios can license the assets they control. Actors, writers, composers, musicians and guilds may hold additional rights inside the same production. A licensed video model will require permission from more parties than Suno’s music model.

Studios can charge AI companies for footage accompanied by documented permissions covering the material and people represented in it. Those records can reduce legal risk for AI companies and customers using generated work commercially.

Warner and Suno still need to show how individual artists get paid. Their announcements don’t identify which uses generate compensation, how the revenue is divided or what reporting participating creators will receive.

V6 now tests whether licensed inputs produce a product customers will pay to use and measurable revenue for rights holders. Film and TV companies should watch those results because AI video will require the same licensing infrastructure with more rights holders at the table.