This week, Apple Music told partners it will begin applying “Made With AI” labels to tracks materially generated on platforms such as Suno — while pushing the tagging responsibility onto record labels and distributors.
Meanwhile, Round Hill sued Suno and Anthropic, seeking up to $1 billion from each company in separate copyright infringement cases, insisting it has no intention of settling either suit.
Elsewhere, Universal Music Group struck an exclusive, long-term global deal with Apple Corps for The Beatles’ merchandise, licensing, and e-commerce.
And Spotify expanded its share buyback program by $1.5 billion, raising its total authorization to around $2.2 billion.
Plus, Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl defended his company’s Suno licensing deal as UMG and Sony press on with their lawsuit against the AI music platform.
Here are some of the biggest headlines from the past few days…
1. Apple Music to slap AI labels on Suno tracks – but pushes the onus onto record companies
Apple Music has told partners that music “materially generated” on AI platforms such as Suno will carry a “Made With AI” label on the service from later this year.
At least, that is, if record labels and distributors tag the music with the relevant metadata before it reaches the platform.
The move was announced in a message to industry partners from Apple on Thursday (August 20), obtained by MBW. (MBW)
2. Round Hill is suing Suno and Anthropic for up to $1B apiece. It isn’t looking to settle.
Round Hill Music has filed copyright infringement lawsuits against Suno and Anthropic – and says it has no intention of settling either one.
The complaints were filed on Monday (August 17) in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
Each seeks statutory damages of up to USD $150,000 per work willfully infringed. Round Hill says the total in each case could run into “hundreds of millions of dollars and potentially approach or conceivably exceed $1 billion“. (MBW)
3. UMG strikes global deal for The Beatles’ merch, licensing, and e-commerce
Universal Music Group has signed an exclusive, long-term global partnership with Apple Corps Ltd. covering merchandise, licensing, and e-commerce for The Beatles.
The agreement was announced on Wednesday (August 19).
It hands UMG worldwide physical and digital merchandise rights for the band and builds on Universal’s existing stewardship of The Beatles’ recorded music catalog. (MBW)
4. Spotify expands its share buyback program by $1.5B, raising total authorization to around $2.2B
Spotify has increased the size of its share repurchase program by an additional USD $1.5 billion.
The company’s Board of Directors approved the increase, which Spotify confirmed in a press release on Thursday (August 20).
With $723 million left under the existing program, the increase raises Spotify‘s total authorization to approximately $2.223 billion. (MBW)
5. Robert Kyncl justifies Suno deal, as UMG and Sony press on with lawsuit: ‘In my opinion, you embrace it.’
Up until last week, Robert Kyncl’s position vis-à-vis Suno was – in his sphere of the music biz – a lonely one.
Nine months ago, the Warner Music Group CEO agreed to drop WMG’s lawsuit against Mikey Shulman’s company, whilst agreeing to a go-forward licensing deal with the gen-AI platform.
As part of that agreement, Suno publicly committed to limiting the number of downloads its users can pull from the platform (a move it announced last week), while also promising to launch an entirely new model licensed by industry partners (which it says is coming). MBW hears that WMG also banked equity in Suno as part of the pact. (MBW)
