Universal and Sony Sue Suno AI Again in $9 Billion Case

Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony Music Entertainment have sued AI music company Suno for a second time. The labels filed the joint complaint in Boston federal court on Friday, September 18, alleging Suno copied 60,202 of their sound recordings without a license to build its music generation models, with up to $9 billion in damages potentially at stake.

According to the lawsuit obtained by Music Business Worldwide (MBW), the majors claim Suno's new V6 model is "fruit from the same poisoned tree" as its earlier systems. The new filing intensifies the legal battle over whether AI companies need licenses for the copyrighted music used to train their systems.

Universal Sues Distributor DistroKid

In a separate legal action, Universal Music Group has also sued DistroKid, the world's largest music distributor by volume. UMG's lawsuit accuses DistroKid of deceptive trade practices and blatant copyright infringement. A key allegation centers on DistroKid's alleged involvement with AI-generated music, which UMG characterizes as flooding platforms with AI "slop."## Industry Pledges on AI Training Consent

Amid the lawsuits, two major music distribution companies have made public commitments regarding AI."the artist must consent first, period." This follows Suno's announcement of a new licensing agreement with Believe last week, adding to its existing deals with Warner Music Group and BMG.

Major Funding for Live Entertainment

Outside the AI legal battles, the live entertainment sector saw significant investment. Fever, the owner of ticketing platform DICE, raised $250 million in a primary equity financing round led by new investor EQT. The round, which included participation from Baillie Gifford and existing backers, values the live-entertainment technology company at approximately $5.2 billion. Fever described it as the largest funding round ever for a live-entertainment tech company.

Apollo Invests $1.25 Billion in BMG Subsidiary

In a major financial deal, Apollo Global Management has provided a $1.25 billion equity investment tied to BMG. The transaction involves Apollo-managed funds taking a noncontrolling interest in a BMG subsidiary that holds legacy Concord asset-backed securities. This investment, backed by a catalog of over 1 million songs, allows BMG to repay debt secured against the Concord catalog following the completion of the BMG-Concord merger on September 1.

The week's events underscore the music industry's simultaneous pursuit of growth through investment and its aggressive legal defense against what it perceives as unauthorized use of its core assets by artificial intelligence platforms.