Suno unveils AI music model trained on licensed tracks

Suno on Wednesday unveiled a new AI music model family, Suno v6, which the company says was developed using licensed data from music labels and distributors including Warner Music Group, BMG, and Believe. The company says Suno v6 was not trained using the data behind previous versions of its music-generating models, which it plans to retire.

Suno has faced multiple lawsuits from record labels accusing it of training its models on copyrighted material. It settled with Warner Music Group last year and struck a deal with BMG last month, though it still faces suits from Sony and Universal Music Group, as well as from artists including Jason Isbell and users alleging the company ignored security while chasing profits. The model announcement comes a day after Suno admitted to training its models using YouTube videos.

The new lineup has three versions: the base Suno v6 model, available to paying users and described as reliable and steerable for controlled outputs; Suno v6-wild, an experimental model also for paying users, meant for ideation and unexpected results; and Suno v6-mini, a faster version available to all users. Suno v6 lets users edit part of a song via prompt or lyric, use text, images, or video as references, and separate an instrument from a sample to build a new beat.

Suno also plans to let users remix songs, provided artists opt in to a new labels-backed program. “I think the music ecosystem and our partners are always looking for ways to create more revenue opportunities for their rights holders and artists,” Suno chief product officer Jack Brody told TechCrunch. “So a big part of this release is creating additional revenue streams there.”

Last month Suno said it plans to add a watermark to AI-generated songs, and it recently introduced download limits tied to account tiers — moves the company frames as tools to manage streaming fraud and low-intent mass uploads to distributors, while leaving broader content governance to distributors and platforms. Despite the ongoing legal controversies, Suno has raised more than $819 million to date, according to PitchBook data.

Why it matters

Suno’s pivot to licensed training data and artist revenue-sharing suggests AI music companies may need label partnerships, not just legal victories, to keep operating at scale.