AI music generator Suno has appointed Jeremy Sirota as Chief Commercial Officer.
Sirota most recently served as CEO of Merlin, the digital music licensing partner for independent labels and distributors.
According to a press release issued on Monday (February 23), in his new role, Sirota “will lead Suno’s commercial strategy, music industry relationships, platform partnerships, and enterprise solutions”.
Sirota will report directly to CEO Mikey Shulman.
The news marks the latest high-profile music industry appointment for Suno, which closed a $250 million Series C round in November at a $2.45 billion post-money valuation.
In July 2025, Paul Sinclair, who spent over two decades at Warner Music Group in various roles, joined Suno as Chief Music Officer.
The latest appointment also comes as Suno continues to face copyright infringement lawsuits from major music companies. In mid-2024, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), on behalf of all three major record companies, sued Suno and rival Udio for “mass infringement” of copyright.
Udio settled with Universal Music Group in October, followed by Warner Music Group in November, with both music companies signing licensing deals with Udio for an AI music platform due to launch this year.
Then, in November, Warner Music Group also struck a deal with Suno, settling litigation between the two companies. However, Suno continues to face legal action from UMG and Sony Music Entertainment, as well as European collecting societies, including Denmark’s Koda and Germany’s GEMA.
Suno said on Monday that it “announced its partnership with Warner Music Group to open new frontiers in music creation, interaction, and discovery for Suno’s millions of users”.
Prior to Merlin, Sirota held business development, strategy and operational roles at Meta on the music team, was a senior record executive at Warner Music Group, and served as a technology lawyer at Morrison Foerster, where he did licensing work for entertainment companies and advised on intellectual property matters.
According to Suno, with Sirota leading commercial partnerships, the company “is accelerating its mission to shape the next digital format for recorded music, one where people actively play with music, where artists and fans can engage more directly, and where everyone can bring to life musical ideas that are in their heads”.
“Jeremy is a rare leader who has spent his career working to improve every side of the music business – for fans, artists, music rightsholders, and platforms,” said Mikey Shulman, Co-Founder and CEO of Suno.
“What truly sets him apart is his ability to build what doesn’t yet exist, finding opportunity where others see obstacles and bringing all sides with him. That mindset will help craft a better future of music for all, and I couldn’t be more excited to have him join Suno.”
“Jeremy is a rare leader who has spent his career working to improve every side of the music business – for fans, artists, music rightsholders, and platforms.”
Mikey Shulman, Suno
Jeremy Sirota, Chief Commercial Officer of Suno added: “I have deep respect for music and the role it plays in our lives.
“What excites me about Suno is the opportunity to shape a future where music becomes more interactive and integrated into people’s daily lives.
“Throughout my career, I’ve seen and helped navigate pivotal moments when technology redefined the music industry. Each chapter has expanded opportunity in ways few initially imagined. Suno is building new layers of creativity and connectivity that didn’t exist before, and I’m energized to help bring that vision to life alongside the industry.”
Elsewhere, as reported by MBW earlier this month, a PR battle appeared to have been breaking out between the world’s most prominent AI music company and the world’s largest music rights company.
Paul Sinclair penned a lengthy post-Grammy Week LinkedIn memo entitled “Open Studios, not walled gardens,” which took direct aim at the approach championed by Universal Music Group in its recent AI licensing agreements.
UMG was the first major to settle its litigation with Suno rival Udio (in October 2025), alongside a licensing deal for a new AI platform set to launch in 2026.
The concept of a “walled garden” was introduced within that announcement – a model where AI-generated music cannot be downloaded or distributed outside the platform. Udio disabled downloads, with users given a 48-hour grace period to retrieve previously created tracks before the walls went up.
Warner Music Group followed with its own Udio settlement in November, implementing similar restrictions.
But when WMG then signed a separate deal with Suno later that month, the terms proved notably different. Suno retained much of its core functionality, including the ability for users to create songs and download them.
Just over a month after that deal was announced, in his annual memo to staff, UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge appeared to warn against firms “validating business models that fail to respect artists’ work and creativity, and promote the exponential growth of AI slop on streaming platforms.”
Michael Nash, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at UMG, explained the company’s position in further detail during an appearance on Billboard‘s On The Record podcast last month, and outlined the walled garden concept in stark terms.
“The concept [of a walled garden] is to set up through AI a component of the service for deep interaction with the artists and the content, but not to create derivatives that you then take off of the platform and post all over your socials and post on Spotify and Amazon Music, and Apple,” he said.
He argued that by doing so, you “effectively use artists’ content and their brand to create derivatives where you’re going to compete with the artist on other platforms”.
Sirota is described by Suno as a “widely regarded” and “forward-thinking industry leader known for constructing partnerships that deliver new growth opportunities for artists, music rightsholders and platforms, and richer experiences for music fans”.
The company added that he “was instrumental in signing the industry’s first major generative AI licensing framework”.
Suno added that “during his six years as CEO of Merlin”, Sirota “scaled annual revenue from $900 million to $1.8 billion while rebuilding its technology infrastructure and expanding its data and licensing capabilities to meet the evolving needs of independent rightsholders.” Suno added that he “led landmark licensing agreements with major technology platforms including Apple, Deezer, Meta, Spotify, Twitch and YouTube among others”.
Most notably, according to Suno, “Sirota negotiated Merlin’s early AI partnerships, underscoring his collaborative approach to dealmaking”.Music Business Worldwide
