Suno has uploaded a blog post entitled ‘How We’re Building The Future of Music Responsibly’ to their website, in which they claim they’ll “soon” start to watermark songs produced on the platform, and limit “the ability to mass distribute songs on streaming platforms”.
In it, the AI platform’s CEO Mikey Shulman says that Suno has a “clear set of principles” that are “always rooted in supporting artistry and creativity.”
It also attempts to distance the platform from any responsibility for the deluge of AI-generated slop that is increasingly clogging up streaming platforms. “Most of the music people make on Suno is deeply meaningful,” Shulman writes.
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“A lullaby for a child, a song for a partner, or something made to preserve a memory. That music may never be released publicly, but it still has real value to the person who made it. That is fundamentally different from using generative technology to mass export content.”
Shulman’s intervention comes just days after Suno’s defeat in a German court, where it was found that in training its AI models without paying rights holders, the platform was in breach of both German and US copyright law.
In the post, Shulman indicates that Suno will put in place limits on downloads to prevent mass distribution on the platform – in theory, a move that may go some way to stopping the slop.
And there is no mention in the statement about finally revealing what music is used in its AI training and how artists and songwriters might be fairly recompensed for the use of their work in this way. They are unlikely to be placated by Shulman’s vague promise that “AI should help people create something new, not imitate someone else’s work.”
The company is still awaiting the amount it will have to pay in damages to the rights holders involved in the German case. They are also still fighting a legal battle with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment over the “mass infringement” of copyright.
