By: Ruihao Rick Shan

San Jose California- Major record companies are suing two digital music generation companies. The record companies claim the AI used to generate music is trained using copyrighted sounds and songs.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and its three largest members, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group Recordings, and Warner Records, announced the lawsuits on Monday.

The first lawsuit filed in the federal court in Boston targeted Suno AI. The other took place in New York against Udio AI. The lawsuits have 3 requests for the companies. First, they ask Suno and Udio to admit that the AIs are trained with copyrighted music. Second, they want Suno and Udio to stop that training. Third, they seek $150,000 in compensation per song

Mitch Glazier, the CEO and Chairman of RIAA emphasized the positive collaboration between the music industry and responsible AI developers to create sustainable tools that prioritize human creativity and empower artists and songwriters. However, he warned that the efforts to innovate with AI could be undermined by unlicensed services like Suno and Udio, which exploit artists’ work without consent or compensation, claiming it’s “fair use.”

CEO of Suno, AI Mikey Shulman, defended the company: “Suno’s mission is to make it possible for everyone to make music. Our technology is transformative; it is designed to generate completely new outputs, not to memorize and regurgitate pre-existing content. That is why we don’t allow user prompts that reference specific artists.”

This conflict underscores the tension between AI’s potential to revolutionize music and the need to protect artists’ rights and livelihoods. As these lawsuits proceed, the music industry and AI developers must balance innovation with respect and fair compensation for creators.