{"slug": "ai-music-generator-suno-strikes-licensing-deal-with-bmg-as-it-preps-new-label", "title": "AI Music Generator Suno Strikes Licensing Deal With BMG as It Preps New Label-Backed Models", "summary": "AI music generator Suno has struck a licensing deal with music company BMG, paying for BMG's repertoire and training data use, as it prepares new label-backed models. BMG joins Warner Music Group in settling with Suno, which faces ongoing lawsuits from UMG, Sony Music, and a German court ruling against it. Suno CEO Mikey Shulman said the partnership will give artists and songwriters real choice and generate new revenue.", "body_md": "[Suno](https://variety.com/t/suno/), the AI music generator that’s managed to both rankle the music industry and lure some of its biggest talent to its side, has added music company [BMG](https://variety.com/t/bmg/) as its latest licensing partner as it prepares new models powered by licensed work.\n\nThe partnership will see Suno pay for BMG’s repertoire of recordings from its artists, while also covering the use of any BMG songs to train Suno’s past models. BMG joins Warner Music Group in settling with the music-generation company, which has been the target of a series of lawsuits alleging unauthorized use of audio recordings to train its data.\n\n“We believe the future of music will be more participatory, creating entirely new ways for artists and fans to connect,” Suno CEO and co-founder Mikey Shulman said in a statement. “Building that future responsibly means working directly with the people who make music and the companies that represent them. Together with BMG, we can develop new experiences that give artists and songwriters real choice, generate new revenue, and make music a bigger part of people’s lives.”\n\n### Popular on Variety\n\nCeline Joshua, BMG’s executive vice president of global marketing and streaming, framed music’s future as one where artists and songwriters “share in the value” platforms such as Suno may create.\n\n“Choice is the guiding principle,” Joshua said. “This agreement establishes strong protections, clear economics, and new creative possibilities for artists and their fans. As we enter the era of creation, we look forward to shaping that future together with our creators and Suno.”\n\nThe settlement marks BMG’s most notable acceptance of AI’s role in music since the generative era began. It [sued](https://www.billboard.com/pro/bmg-ai-song-copyright-lawsuit-sues-claude-maker-anthropic/) Anthropic in California federal court earlier this year for allegedly using its copyrighted works, including songs by the likes of Bruno Mars and the Rolling Stones, to train its models in what it called a scheme of “widespread and systematic infringement.” The case, similar to one [brought by other music publishers](https://variety.com/2023/music/news/universal-concord-abkco-sue-ai-company-anthropic-copyright-violation-1235761250/) in 2023, is ongoing.\n\nBMG also joined a collection of other music labels and companies last month, including WMG, Universal Music Group and Sony Music, in proposing a [new set of guidelines for how AI-generated music could chart](https://variety.com/2026/music/news/music-labels-scrutiny-ai-generated-tracks-billboard-charts-1236823714/) on music tracking lists, specifying that only tracks that were “substantially human made” qualify for the industry’s measure of success.\n\nThe deal with BMG also gives Suno another layer of legitimacy as it prepares its new industry-backed models, which Suno said on Monday would come soon. Last week, Suno said it would begin watermarking songs downloaded from the platform to help signify the use of AI and [limit song downloads](https://variety.com/2026/music/news/suno-unveils-download-caps-for-free-paid-tiers-generator-1236831589/) for its three usage tiers to combat slop, efforts the company is taking to further legitimize its outputs among the music industry.\n\nStill, Suno is facing ongoing lawsuits from UMG and Sony Music for copyright infringement, and last month a German court [found](https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/suno-loses-ai-lawsuit-gema-1236825010/) that the company was violating U.S. and German copyright laws.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-music-generator-suno-strikes-licensing-deal-with-bmg-as-it-preps-new-label", "canonical_source": "https://variety.com/2026/music/news/suno-ai-licensing-deal-bmg-1236832703/", "published_at": "2026-08-12 10:00:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-12 10:04:55.287889+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "generative-ai", "ai-policy", "ai-ethics"], "entities": ["Suno", "BMG", "Mikey Shulman", "Celine Joshua", "Warner Music Group", "Anthropic", "Universal Music Group", "Sony Music"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-music-generator-suno-strikes-licensing-deal-with-bmg-as-it-preps-new-label", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-music-generator-suno-strikes-licensing-deal-with-bmg-as-it-preps-new-label.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-music-generator-suno-strikes-licensing-deal-with-bmg-as-it-preps-new-label.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/ai-music-generator-suno-strikes-licensing-deal-with-bmg-as-it-preps-new-label.jsonld"}}