Suno unveils new AI music model trained on licensed tracks amid mounting lawsuits
AI music startup Suno has launched a new model, Suno v6, trained on licensed recordings from major labels, while it continues facing multiple copyright lawsuits. The company plans to phase out its older models.
AI music generator Suno on Wednesday introduced a new model family called Suno v6, which it says was built using licensed data from music labels and distributors including Warner Music Group, BMG and Believe. The startup has faced several lawsuits from record labels accusing it of using copyrighted material to train earlier versions of its song-generating AI. Suno reached a settlement with Warner Music Group last year and struck a licensing deal with BMG last month. The company says the new model was not trained on the same data used for its previous versions.
Three model tiers
Suno is rolling out three versions: the base Suno v6, aimed at paying users and described as reliable and controllable for precise output; Suno v6 wild, an experimental version also for paying subscribers, meant for open-ended creative exploration; and Suno v6 mini, a faster model available to all users free of charge. Older models will gradually be retired.
The new lineup allows users to edit part of a song via a prompt or a specific lyric, and to generate tracks using text, images or video as reference material. Users can also isolate an instrument from a sample and build a new beat around it.
Future plans and ongoing challenges
Suno's chief product officer, Jack Brody, said the company plans to let users remix songs, contingent on artists opting into a new program that would let Suno use their music to power AI-generated features — a move he said would create additional revenue streams for rights holders. Last month Suno also announced plans to add watermarks to generated tracks and introduced download limits tied to account tiers.
Despite the new release, Suno remains embroiled in lawsuits from Sony and Universal Music Group, musician Jason Isbell, and users alleging the company disregarded security while pursuing growth. The announcement came a day after Suno acknowledged it had used YouTube videos to train its models. The company has raised more than $819 million in funding to date.
