Suno & Udio: AI That Writes Full Songs From a Single Prompt
Big record companies are suing artificial intelligence song-generators Suno and Udio for copyright infringement, alleging that the AI music startups are exploiting the recorded works of artists from Chuck Berry to Mariah Carey.
The Recording Industry Association of America announced the lawsuits Monday brought by labels including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Records.
- New AI music generators Suno and Udio have gone viral for their ability to create complete, high-quality songs—including vocals and instruments—from a simple text description.
- Users can generate everything from a pop ballad to a rap song in seconds.
- The rapid improvement has sparked both excitement from creators and lawsuits from the music industry.
Imagine typing “a synth-pop song about a robot falling in love, with an upbeat tempo and female vocals” and getting a fully-produced, two-minute track.
That’s the magic of Suno and Udio. The quality is so good that many AI-generated songs have gone viral on social media.
However, this breakthrough has put the AI companies on a collision course with record labels.
Suno AI CEO Mikey Shulman said in an emailed statement that the technology is “designed to generate completely new outputs, not to memorize and regurgitate pre-existing content” and doesn’t allow users to reference specific artists.
Shulman said his Cambridge, Massachusetts-based startup tried to explain this to labels “but instead of entertaining a good faith discussion, they’ve reverted to their old lawyer-led playbook.”
Major music publishers have sued them, alleging that they trained their models on millions of copyrighted songs without permission, setting up a legal battle that will shape the future of AI and art.
Source: Associated Press, June 24, 2024
