Suno Licenses BMG Catalog for New AI Music Models
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- Suno signed a licensing deal with BMG, paying for BMG's repertoire of recordings and covering past use of BMG songs to train earlier Suno models.
- BMG becomes the second major music company to settle with Suno, following Warner Music Group, as the company continues to face lawsuits from Universal Music Group and Sony Music.
- Suno said on Monday that new models powered by licensed work would arrive "soon," with the BMG deal adding another layer of legitimacy ahead of the launch.
- BMG sued Anthropic in California federal court earlier this year alleging "widespread and systematic infringement" of copyrighted works including songs by Bruno Mars and the Rolling Stones; that case remains ongoing.
- BMG joined WMG, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music last month in proposing new guidelines requiring AI-generated tracks to be "substantially human made" to chart on industry tracking lists.
- A German court ruled last month that Suno violated U.S. and German copyright laws, while ongoing UMG and Sony suits for copyright infringement remain unresolved.
- Suno announced last week it would begin watermarking downloaded songs and cap downloads across its three usage tiers to combat AI-generated "slop."
Why it matters: Suno now has two of the major labels on its side, but the company is still fighting infringement suits from UMG and Sony and already lost a German copyright ruling — meaning the BMG deal strengthens Suno's position for its upcoming industry-backed models while leaving its largest legal exposures untouched.
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