We’re at a fever-level crossroads in the way of AI, and many of the bigger issues on how to regulate it all (you know, about it potentially destroying humanity) are still up in the air. In the realm of music, however, it seems some general consensus is being met, despite some lawsuits still pending, particularly at Suno. As the leading source of AI-assisted music creation, Suno has a major tug-of-war going on with some industry support—while others are still going after it for absorbing prior voices/songs like a digital sponge.
The most interesting thing happening with Suno now is it has one power player working alongside them in properly licensing music. On the other, you have another major corporate entity still going after Suno for using their earlier training method of accumulating existing musical IP. Chances are looking better that recording labels may fall in line with Suno over time based on a new business structure of licensing existing recordings.
Much of this can only happen because Suno is exploding in subscribers and general users—which includes myself to create studio-quality recordings of my own songs.
Regardless, the question remains of whether Suno can still manage to overcome all their other lawsuits—not including the growing public aversion to AI-created songs.
The New Warner Music Deal
If you use Suno in any capacity, you know they just released their V6 model. While some attest V5.5 was better, that old version is now retired. And it’s a symbolic gesture since V6 brings a new way to use prior existing music to the Suno app. They just made a deal with Warner Music Group, BMG, and Believe to license all their music for use in AI creations. The deal ensures the original creators of that music get compensated for the collective use on Suno for AI-created music.
Perhaps that seems like a major capitulation on the part of several major music labels. Regardless, it was always about money over the ethical qualities of creating things with AI. You can debate forever about whether it’s still an ethical practice, despite making it all about everyone financially benefiting on both ends.
It’s this development that now retires the old system of Suno’s training model using music without proper licensing. Even I admit the studio recordings I made of my first two songs seem like a compilation of existing voices, instrumentations, and choir sounds. I even went so far as to say the male singer on my single of “Whispered Thoughts” sounded like—um, Drake Shelton.
Some critics now say the V6 update is less superior to V5.5, though. I haven’t tried V6 yet on my prior songs or any new ones. A few users say the quality is more basic over the more believable voices and studio sounds 5.5 had. There’s a possibility that Suno had to lessen the quality just to stay alive. Prior to planning this segment of The Human Project, it appeared that Suno was soon going under with mounting lawsuits across the board.
This isn’t to say they still don’t have legal hurdles to overcome. They can’t completely erase their earlier model system that probably makes up over a billion or more songs already on streaming services around the world.
Other Lawsuits Still Pending
Last year, Sony/Universal filed a major lawsuit against Suno based on latter using copyrighted material in their original AI training methods. Suno can’t immediately shake this lawsuit based on all the songs already created using that process. It includes those who merely use Suno as a technological assist (like me) to make their written songs sound like they were recorded professionally.
In a time when the expenses for studio time are beyond many budgets, being able to hear your songs fully realized on Suno has been a major creative convenience. Not that I didn’t realize the sounds you hear on my two songs are a likely amalgam of prior voices and instruments. Sure, there’s a sense of ethical guilt about that, even if all future V6 songs may change everyone’s outlook.
Suno still contends that fair use was at play on their old training model, something you can argue as fact when mixing existing IP ultimately turns into something else. I waver in my legal beliefs on this since there’s still a major difference between creating voices and sounds from scratch rather than borrowing from them. But, with my own songs, I managed to create original songs that still sound original thanks to using that library of audio.
Whether Suno can beat this lawsuit in coming months (or years) is still up in the air. Their biggest pain is also being sued by performance rights organizations, particularly overseas. Those contend that Suno, through their prior model, didn’t properly compensate artists based on the audio taken.
Most notable there are lawsuits from performance rights organizations overseas and in Canada. For the latter, it’s SOCAN (The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) going after SUNO recently for reproducing and/or copying songs from the org’s catalog. They say over 150 works were essentially stolen as part of Suno’s training model. Then you have GEMA from Germany that went after Suno for similar reasons. In that case, Suno lost the case in saying they infringed copyrights.
Outside of America, Suno still faces some serious threats, even if the chances are greater they’ll overcome now with the above deals and new business philosophy. Ultimately, though, it’s up to the world populace on whether they really survive far into the future as a technological creative assist.
Will the Public Backlash Against AI Hurt Suno Long-Term?
You’ve likely seen the evidence that the public is starting to speak out against AI due to the fears of it becoming a massive super-intelligence. Other proof is out there showing a backlash against AI music in particular, even though it’s undeniable Suno has a record amount of users and listeners.
Last report showed they have 100 million users around the world, not including an evaluation at $5.4 billion. A good chunk of the world is either using the app or going in to listen to music produced there. Perhaps the creators signing up are creating while secretly abhorring what AI is doing in music. Others (like me) possibly realize they could save money using Suno as a music production studio while still writing their own songs.
No lists are available showing exactly what parts of the 100 million users are doing there. One thing we have to admit, though, is that many people continue using things they feel guilty using. It doesn’t have to be said what those might be, though Suno may be a guilty pleasure for far too many people. In fact, some may just use it for personal entertainment rather than thinking they can make money off their songs.
The numbers still show there’s some level of acceptability of AI in the world of music. Whether it continues in a time when AI CEOs are saying AI could eventually run amok and kill off humanity before the end of the decade is worth looking at closely.
As long as AI can stay as business and creative assists only, it’ll have already helped hundreds of millions of people accomplish things without taking away personal creation or ambition. Suno, with its new licensing agreement, also shows personal responsibility in protecting IP, despite there always being an argument on whether reusing past creative works really amounts to fair use.
I’ll continue to use Suno to create studio recordings of songs I write myself. Recently, I was preparing to find alternatives in the event Suno would shut down before the year was out due to its legal problems. Now it’s clear they’ll be around, and may end up being the most profitable survivor as Hollywood banishes AI, and AI business assistants become a little too scary to use.
All that, unless Suno’s AI bots start going rogue and end up screwing over those who use it merely to avoid studio production costs. I’ve noticed the more prompts you fed it on Version 5.5, the system would basically rebel and ignore your changes to go its own way. While some might say it could improve a song this way, going off the path of our own creative directions could signal a future Frankenstein’s monster scenario at Suno as well.
In Part 12, I’ll look at all the brouhaha over AI agents possibly destroying humanity someday. What are the chances of AI shutting down essential functions of your job within a short time—hence disrupting your job and career already?
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