Suno x BMG: AI Music Platform Strikes Its 2nd important Major Label Licensing Deal
After Warner, BMG Signs On Too, While Universal and Sony Keep Fighting in Court
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Suno x BMG: AI Music Platform Strikes Its Second Major Label Licensing Deal · Source: Suno / BMG
Suno has announced a “global alliance” with BMG, the world’s fourth-largest music company. The deal covers both BMG’s recorded and publishing repertoire and clears the path for Suno’s next AI model, developed in partnership with the music industry. But what does this actually mean for us? Where do you all stand on this?
Suno x BMG: Everything on the New Licensing Deal and What It Means for the Music Industry
Suno x BMG: What the Deal Actually Covers
According to the joint press release, the deal ensures BMG artists and songwriters get compensated for the use of their music in training Suno’s models, both retroactively and going forward. Here’s the key part: only artists who actively opt in will have their music licensed to Suno at all, an opt-in model that covers both training data and user-generated outputs. The deal also retroactively settles Suno’s prior, previously unresolved use of BMG recordings and publishing works.
BMG’s roster includes names like Jelly Roll, Jason Aldean, and Lainey Wilson on the label side, plus Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Bruno Mars, Diane Warren, and John Legend on the publishing side, along with rights tied to Tina Turner, Paul Simon, and Mötley Crüe. Whether and how many of these artists actually opt in is a completely different question. Guy Oseary, Madonna’s manager (whose catalog sits with Warner), recently made it publicly clear that his client will never license her music for AI training.
This Deal Fits Into a Bigger Movement
BMG follows in the footsteps of Warner Music Group here, which already reached a global settlement with Suno back in November 2025, including a full resolution of all ongoing copyright lawsuits at the time. Universal Music Group and Sony Music, the industry’s two biggest rightsholders, remain locked in an active lawsuit against Suno that started in 2024, accusing the company of “willful copyright infringement on an almost unimaginable scale.”
Just on July 31, GEMA scored a win against Suno at the Munich Regional Court, the first European court ruling on AI training of its kind. The ruling requires Suno to pay licensing fees for use of GEMA’s repertoire, which covers more than 100,000 members. That BMG announced its own licensing deal just days later is probably not a coincidence.
Watermarking, Download Limits, and New Principles
Shortly before the BMG announcement, Suno CEO Mikey Shulman had already revealed the platform would adopt audio watermarking and fingerprinting technology, so AI-generated songs stay identifiable on other platforms too. New download limits are also coming, aimed at curbing mass distribution of AI songs across streaming services and cracking down on streaming fraud. In the same blog post, Shulman laid out a set of principles meant to guide Suno’s mission to “build the future of music responsibly” and “contribute to a healthy and growing ecosystem.”
On the BMG deal specifically, Shulman said: “We believe the future of music will be more participatory, creating entirely new ways for artists and fans to connect. Building that future responsibly means working directly with the people who make music and the companies that represent them.” Celine Joshua, BMG’s EVP of Global Marketing & Streaming, added: “The future of AI in music will be defined by whether artists and songwriters remain at the center of the opportunity and share in the value it creates. Choice is the guiding principle.”
Bottom Line
With BMG, the AI platform has now brought a second major rightsholder on board after Warner, while Universal and Sony keep fighting it out in court and GEMA just scored a legal win of its own. That split says a lot about how divided the industry currently is on AI music generators: some are negotiating licensing deals and opt-in models, others keep heading to court.
Whether opt-in models like BMG’s actually convince enough artists to feed Suno’s future models with meaningful licensed material remains to be seen, especially with influential managers like Guy Oseary publicly making clear their artists are holding firm on this. We’ll obviously keep you posted on this one, as always.
More Information
- Music Business Worldwide
- Billboard Magazine
- GEMA vs. Suno: Munich Court Rules AI Music Training Illegal
- More News on Suno
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