As Suno Rolls Out Its New AI Models With Industry Licenses, What Does That Mean For the Music Business?
Categoria: Musica
Billboard reporters answer some of readers' most frequently asked questions about Suno's new v6 roll out.
Por Billboard | 10/09/2026
On Wednesday (Sept. 9), Suno announced its new line of AI music models, which the company says are its first “in partnership with the music industry.” Called v6, the models are said to be the fastest models released by the AI music start-up to date — and they are also the first to provide compensation to Suno’s music industry partners in the process. 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 The news comes after a string of announcements from Suno over the last year, touting new agreements with Warner Music Group, BMG and — as of Tuesday (Sept. 8) — Believe. Still, while these music companies are coming to the table to build products in conjunction with Suno, the AI music company faces ongoing litigation from several others, including Universal Music Group, Sony Music, SOCAN and Koda. It also recently lost a copyright infringement lawsuit in Germany filed by local collection society GEMA over illegal training of its model on copyrighted works. As part of the v6 roll out, Suno also announced that it has retired all past models and is working towards future products that allow for users to take participating songs from their favorite artists and remix, sample and otherwise make derivatives of them. While it’s unclear when these next products will debut, they would mark Suno’s entry into the crowded AI music remixing race, which companies like Spotify, Udio, KLAY, Hook and more are already pursuing in various ways. So, is the music business ready to work with Suno? And is Suno actually ready to do the same? Here, Billboard reporters break down readers’ most frequently asked questions about Suno’s latest move. Related Suno CEO Mikey Shulman Breaks Down V6 & Warner/BMG Partnership | On the Record What does it mean that Suno “partnered” with music industry companies? Bill Donahue: It depends on who you ask. If you ask Warner Music Group, it means that Suno’s new model is “fully licensed.” In an internal memo Wednesday , CEO Robert Kyncl said the AI company will be shutting down its previous model that was trained on millions of songs without permission. Money from the new licensed model will flow to the participating industry partners and, ultimately, their artists and songwriters, he said. That would be a huge win for the music industry — and for human creators writ large. The legality of using vast quantities of unlicensed copyrighted works as “inputs” to create AI models is the trillion-dollar, existential fight between AI firms and creative industries. If Warner’s interpretation of the settlement is true, Suno has largely caved in that fight. But Suno never uses the word “license.” The new model was developed “in partnership with the music industry,” the company said, but it’s left entirely uncl