Suno Launches First AI Music Model Trained on Licensed Major Label Catalog

Major label partnership marks new direction for AI music

Suno has released its v6 music-generation models, the first built using licensed recordings from a major label. The new models were trained on music provided by Warner Music Group as part of a settlement agreement reached in November 2025, according to details first reported by Rolling Stone.

The release represents a significant shift for the AI music company, which was sued by all three major labels in 2024 for copyright infringement. Suno had previously acknowledged in court that its earlier models were trained on essentially any music it could find on the open web, defending the practice as fair use.

"It's the first model developed in partnership directly with the industry," Jack Brody, Suno's chief product officer, told Rolling Stone. The v6 models were trained on licensed data from Warner Music Group, user-generated content, and technical learnings from previous iterations.

Details remain limited on artist participation

Neither Suno nor Warner Music Group disclosed how many songs were included in the training data or whether artists had the ability to opt out of the arrangement. When asked about the selection process, Brody said the data Warner provided "was their own process" and that Suno wasn't involved in deciding which music was included. Warner's roster spans artists from Miley Cyrus to Don Toliver.

The partnership will expand to allow users to remix and reimagine existing songs directly, though Brody emphasized that feature will only include artists who explicitly opt in. "The wrong way to think about this partnership is to think about it as a desire to license the data for our models," he said. "This partnership is really about building these new products out in the future."

Litigation continues with other majors

Universal Music Group and Sony Music are still pursuing their copyright infringement case against Suno. The companies attempted to force Suno to reveal details of its Warner settlement, though Brody declined to comment on potential settlement discussions with the remaining plaintiffs.

Suno is phasing out its older models trained on unlicensed material, though users will retain access to songs they previously created and can rework them using the new v6 system.

The company has secured additional licensing deals beyond Warner. BMG signed an agreement in August covering both recordings and publishing, while distribution platform Believe partnered with Suno in September after previously blocking Suno-generated tracks from streaming services. The Believe deal allows "participating" TuneCore artists and labels to join the partnership.

Why it matters

This partnership establishes a potential template for how AI music companies might operate within the existing music industry framework rather than outside it. The approach could determine whether generative AI expands the music market or simply redistributes existing revenue. Suno raised $400 million in June 2026 at a $5.4 billion valuation and claims nearly 100 million people have used its platform, suggesting significant commercial pressure to resolve licensing disputes. However, the lack of transparency around artist consent and compensation in these deals leaves fundamental questions unanswered about how creators benefit from their work being used to train AI systems.

Brody argued the partnership validates Suno's position that AI music creation grows the overall market: "People who never made music before start paying for Suno, it's not like they stop paying for Spotify. They're just paying for two music services now instead of one."

Rolling Stone first reported these developments.