Suno Launches v6 AI Music Models Trained on Licensed Music Amid Copyright Suits

Suno has introduced Suno v6, a new family of AI music models that the company says was developed using licensed music from Warner Music Group, BMG and Believe.

The launch marks a change in Suno’s training approach as the startup continues to face copyright lawsuits from major record labels accusing it of using copyrighted recordings to train earlier music-generation models.

Suno said v6 was not trained on the data used for its previous models. The company settled with Warner Music Group last year and announced a partnership with BMG last month. At the same time, the intersection of new licensing deals and ongoing lawsuits remains a key issue for the business.

Suno v6 launches in three versions

The standard Suno v6 is available to paying users and is designed to produce more reliable, controllable outputs. Suno v6 Wild, also for paid users, is an experimental model aimed at ideation and unexpected results, while the faster Suno v6 Mini is available to everyone. Suno plans to retire its older models.

The new lineup also expands editing options. Users can modify parts of a song with prompts or lyrics, use text, images or video as references for creating tracks, and separate an instrument from a sample to build a new beat.

Suno also plans to introduce remix features for songs whose artists opt in through a program it is developing with music labels. Chief Product Officer Jack Brody said derivative works could create additional revenue opportunities for artists and rights holders.

“I think the music ecosystem and our partners are always looking for ways to create more revenue opportunities for their rights holders and artists. So a big part of this release is creating additional revenue streams there,” Brody said.

Suno has also said it will add watermarks to AI-generated songs and recently introduced download limits based on account tiers. Brody said those measures can help address issues such as streaming fraud and mass exporting, while distributors and platforms remain responsible for deciding what content they allow.

Copyright disputes continue

The move to licensed training data does not resolve Suno’s existing legal challenges. Sony and Universal Music Group remain among the companies pursuing claims, while artists have also sued Suno over alleged AI-generated copies.

Musician Jason Isbell is among the artists who have sued the company. Suno also faces class-action litigation over allegations of a data breach and security practices.

The v6 announcement came a day after Suno acknowledged obtaining YouTube audio for AI training while challenging aspects of claims brought by Universal Music Group and Sony.

Despite the disputes, Suno has raised more than $819 million to date, according to PitchBook data. Its new v6 lineup now replaces earlier models with technology the company says was trained using licensed music.