Warner does a deal with Suno, Udio; what could possibly go wrong? (cdm.link)

Warner Music Group struck licensing deals this week with Suno (after dropping a lawsuit) and Udio that let those AI music platforms use WMG’s catalog commercially. Key terms: Suno can “build a new generation” of models using licensed music and will require paid accounts for downloads; WMG artists can opt in to let platforms use their names, images, voices and compositions for new releases; however, training-data use does not appear to be opt-in now that the lawsuit is settled. Udio’s deal similarly promises paid remix/cover features where participating artists are credited and paid. For the AI/ML community this signals a major normalization of training generative music systems on major-label catalogs and a marketplace pivot toward subscription monetization and identity licensing rather than litigation. Technical implications include continued large-scale ingestion of recorded music for model training, generation-as-service deployments that encourage high-volume content synthesis, and corresponding infrastructure and energy costs. Critics warn this repeats streaming’s power consolidation—big platforms and labels capturing value while commodifying artist output—and raises questions about consent for training, model transparency, dataset provenance, quality of generated music, and environmental footprint. The deals are a pragmatic industry turn toward revenue-sharing, but also a reminder for technologists to weigh ethical data practices, opt-in protections, and more sustainable model architectures.