Warner Music Group is positioning itself as one of the major record companies most willing to work with artificial intelligence rather than simply resist it, as the industry confronts a new wave of anxiety over copyright, compensation and the future of human-made music. Chief executive Robert Kyncl has argued that labels need to engage early with AI developers if they want to protect artists and songwriters, not least because the technology is moving quickly and is already reshaping how music is created and discovered.
That strategy has taken a more concrete form in recent months. Warner has struck a partnership with Suno, the AI music platform, that allows artists and songwriters to opt in to the use of their names, images, likenesses, voices and compositions in AI-generated tracks. According to Warner’s announcement, the agreement is designed to ensure AI models are trained on licensed music, while Suno plans to roll out newer licensed models in 2026. Reports in The Guardian, the Los Angeles Times and MusicRadar said the deal followed the settlement of a copyright dispute between the two companies, with the arrangement also including Suno’s purchase of Songkick from Warner.
The Suno agreement fits into a broader industry shift in which the largest music companies are trying to shape AI through licensing rather than litigation alone. MusicRadar reported that Warner has also moved into a similar arrangement with Udio, while Universal and Sony have pursued their own partnerships with AI start-up Klay. Warner, meanwhile, has backed the NO FAKES Act, a proposed US federal measure intended to protect people from unauthorised digital replicas of their voice and likeness. The company has also said that new contracts will include explicit controls over whether artists allow their identity to be used in AI-generated songs.
The approach has its critics. A coalition of artists and songwriters campaigning against Suno has accused the company of flooding platforms with low-quality AI output and weakening royalty pools for legitimate creators. Even so, Warner’s stance reflects a wider calculation across the recorded-music business: that the fastest way to protect the value of music may be to bring AI firms inside a licensed framework, rather than leave the technology to develop without industry oversight.
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Source: Noah Wire Services