Warner Music Group CEO Pens Memo About Suno Partnership: ‘This Is a Smart Win’
Categoria: Musica
Robert Kyncl says this marks "the first time our talent has been able to participate in revenue from music creation in addition to music consumption."
Por Billboard | 09/09/2026
Warner Music Group (WMG) CEO Robert Kyncl penned an internal memo to his staff on Wednesday (Sept. 9), touting Suno’s new AI music model launch as “the first time [Warner Music Group] talent has been able to participate in revenue from music creation in addition to music consumption.” The note, obtained by Billboard, came just hours after Suno debuted v6 , the AI company’s first models to be created in partnership with WMG, BMG and Believe. According to Suno, the v6 line was trained on material provided by WMG, BMG and Believe, and the three music firms will be compensated for their partnership through a revenue share system. “Today marks a milestone in our mission to protect our artists and songwriters and bring them opportunity in a rapidly changing world,” Kyncl began in the letter. “These [new models from Suno] must be fully licensed, per the terms of our agreement, and they roll out as Suno shuts down the original model that it had trained on the works of artists and songwriters, including our own, without permission. That was also a requirement of our deal. For rightsholders everywhere, this is a smart win.” Related Suno Launches First AI Music Models ‘in Partnership With the Music Industry’ Billboard to Add Smart Media Albums As Chart-Eligible Sales Formats Duane 'Keffe D' Davis Gives First Interview After Tupac Shakur Murder Conviction He added that “licensing is the most effective lever we have to protect our artists and songwriters and create opportunity for them on our own timetable,” but that licensing is just one part of the company’s “3-L strategy,” which stands for licensing, litigation and legislation. Back in June 2024, Warner banded together with the other two major music companies, Universal Music Group and Sony Music, to sue Suno, alleging the copyright infringement of their sound recordings. Towards the end of 2025, WMG made peace with the AI company, forming a “partnership” which effectively settled its part of the lawsuit against Suno. (UMG and Sony Music’s part of the lawsuit is still ongoing). As part of that pact, Suno agreed to make several changes to its platform, including “launching new, more advanced and licensed models” and deprecating the then-current ones. It also noted that Suno would introduce download restrictions in the future for all account tiers and that free accounts, in particular, would no longer have download capabilities at all. Suno has since upheld all of those stipulations, except that free tier users still have a limit of seven all-time downloads available. Kyncl noted in his Sept. 9 memo that this is just the start of many new income streams to come as AI music develops: “This new creation-based revenue stream will only grow as our other partners — from DSPs like Spotify to startups like Udio, Klay and Stability — launch their own AI-powered fan-engagement tiers and pla