On August 12, BMG and Suno announced a global alliance covering BMG’s recorded music and music publishing repertoire. It is the first major rights-holder deal for Suno since Warner Music Group announced its own about nine months earlier. Universal Music Group and Sony Music remain plaintiffs in US litigation against the company.

What the BMG deal covers

  • It covers artists and songwriters who choose to participate. It is opt-in, not blanket.
  • According to BMG, participating artists and songwriters will be compensated for the use of their music in training Suno’s models, retrospectively and going forward.
  • It settles Suno’s prior use of BMG recordings and publishing works.
  • BMG was not a plaintiff in the RIAA litigation that Warner, Universal and Sony brought, per Music Business Worldwide.

The download caps

The same day, Suno announced limits on how many tracks users can download. Per Music Business Worldwide, they took effect September 3:

  • Free users: 7 lifetime trial downloads, with no commercial rights.
  • Pro subscribers: 20 downloads per month.
  • Premier subscribers: 60 downloads per month.

Downloads are required to release songs on streaming platforms, which is why the cap matters for anyone planning to distribute Suno-generated music. Premier subscribers can export multitracks and stems outside those caps through Suno’s Studio 2.0, launched August 13, per the same report.

Watermarking and new models

On August 6, Suno announced watermarking and fingerprinting with partners including Audible Magic and Musixmatch. Musixmatch’s “Sentinel” screens prompts and outputs against existing compositions. Suno also said its old models are being retired and new models trained with the music industry are coming “soon.” No launch date was given in the coverage we reviewed.

Before

Suno was being sued by the major labels over its training data, and Warner Music Group was the only major rights holder to have signed a licensing deal with it.

Now

Downloads are capped by plan, outputs are being watermarked and fingerprinted, and both Warner and BMG have signed licensing deals. Universal and Sony are still suing.

Why musicians should care

If you distribute music made with Suno, the download cap limits how many tracks you can release each month, and the shift to licensed models may change what those tracks are allowed to do. Read the terms of the model you actually use.

The bigger picture

AnalysisTaken together, the moves look like a company building a licensed, traceable product while litigation continues. Whether this satisfies Universal and Sony is a separate matter. Music Business Worldwide reports they are seeking to add 61,026 works to their case, and that potential damages could exceed $9 billion. Those are plaintiffs’ claims, not findings.

Suno also lost a separate case brought by German collecting society GEMA in Munich on July 31. That ruling is not final and Suno is considering an appeal.

What remains unclear

  • When Suno’s new models launch and what license terms govern their output.
  • How many BMG artists and songwriters opt in, and what compensation looks like in practice. Financial terms weren’t disclosed in the coverage we reviewed.
  • Whether Universal or Sony will settle.