Learn — By WATMM Desk — · Updated
AI music licensing deals tracker: every label and publisher deal shaping 2026
A living table of the licensing deals between record companies and AI music companies that govern 2026, from UMG and Udio to UMG and ElevenLabs, each with its date, parties, what is licensed, the source and the date we read it. No deal we found discloses a fee or a revenue split.
Key facts
- Seven deals are tracked: UMG and Udio (29 Oct 2025), WMG and Udio (19 Nov 2025), WMG, UMG and Sony with Klay (20 Nov 2025), WMG and Suno (25 Nov 2025), BMG and Suno (between Nov 2025 and Sep 2026), Believe and Suno (8 Sep 2026), and UMG and ElevenLabs (10 Sep 2026).
- None of the sources we read gives a settlement sum, licence fee or revenue percentage for any of them.
- Sony has signed with Klay but, in what we read, not with Suno or Udio; Suno says its v6 training data includes no Universal or Sony data.
- Reservoir sued Suno on 21 Oct 2026 and cites the Warner, BMG and Believe deals as proof that a licensing market exists.
Last checked: 29 Oct 2026. A living table, re-checked against releases and reporting and dated in the changelog.
Seven licensing deals between music rightsholders and AI music companies set the rules for 2026: UMG and Warner with Udio, all three majors with Klay, Warner, BMG and Believe with Suno, and UMG with ElevenLabs. None of them publishes a price or a revenue split.
If you only want to try a licensed tool for free: Suno's free tier still exists, but since 3 Sep 2026 it gives seven downloads in total, for personal use only, with no streaming release or sale (MBW). Paid Pro is capped at 20 downloads a month and Premier at 60. The deals below are why those limits exist.
For the court fights these deals settled or sparked, see AI music lawsuits explained. For a clause-by-clause reading of the Udio and Suno settlements, see our licence anatomy piece.
The tracker
| Date | Parties | What is licensed | Settles a lawsuit? | Source | Date read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Oct 2025 | Universal Music Group + Udio | Recorded music and publishing, for a new licensed platform due in 2026. Udio's existing product kept "within a walled garden" in the meantime | Yes | MBW | 29 Oct 2026 |
| 19 Nov 2025 | Warner Music Group + Udio | Warner's recording and publishing businesses; opted-in artists credited and paid when users remix or cover their songs. No financial terms disclosed | Yes | AP via News4JAX | 29 Oct 2026 |
| 20 Nov 2025 | Warner, Universal and Sony (each with its publishing arm) + Klay Vision | Separate agreements; few details. Klay says its "large music model" is trained only on licensed music | No | Al Jazeera | 29 Oct 2026 |
| Nov 2025 | Warner Music Group + Suno | Licence and settlement; Warner music in Suno's v6 models, launched 9 Sep 2026 | Yes | MBW | 29 Oct 2026 |
| Between Nov 2025 and Sep 2026 (exact date not reported) | BMG + Suno | BMG music being added to the v6 models | No | MBW | 29 Oct 2026 |
| 8 Sep 2026 | Believe and TuneCore + Suno | Music from Believe and TuneCore artists and labels included in v6 | No | MBW | 29 Oct 2026 |
| 10 Sep 2026 | Universal Music Group + ElevenLabs | Multi-year licence; first product a fan platform for remixes, mashups and "personalized vocal experiences", built on "licensed music and artist participation", separate from ElevenMusic | No | ElevenLabs | 29 Oct 2026 |
Money disclosed in any row: none. Suno says only that "a portion of our revenue" goes to partners, who decide how to share it (MBW).
Who has not signed
- Sony appears only in the Klay row. Suno's product chief says v6's training data includes no Universal or Sony data (MBW).
- Reservoir, an independent publisher, sued Suno on 21 Oct 2026 over 1,050 compositions and cites the Warner, BMG and Believe deals as proof that "a functioning market for licensing" training data exists (MBW). More in our Reservoir report.
What we think
Put the rows side by side and the pattern is clear: every deal licenses a catalogue, and none of them tells an artist what they will be paid. The money goes to the rightsholder, which then decides how to share it. If you are signed, ask your label or distributor in writing whether your catalogue is in a deal and how payouts will be split. If you are self-releasing through a distributor such as Believe's TuneCore, check whether you were opted in by default. That is our reading of what was published, not a disclosed term.
The second pattern is that each signed deal becomes evidence in the next lawsuit. Reservoir already uses Suno's deals against it. The more rows this table gets, the harder it gets for an unlicensed AI company to argue that no licensing market exists.
Know a deal we missed? It goes in at the next refresh once we can open a source for it.
Sources
- Universal Music settles Udio lawsuit, strikes deal for licensed AI music platform, Music Business Worldwide (primary source). Accessed 29 Oct 2026.
- ElevenLabs and Universal Music Group, ElevenLabs (primary source). Accessed 29 Oct 2026.
- Warner Music and AI startup Udio settle copyright battle and ink license deal, Associated Press (via News4JAX). Accessed 29 Oct 2026.
- Sony, Warner and Universal sign AI music licensing deals with startup Klay, Al Jazeera. Accessed 29 Oct 2026.
- Suno v6 AI music models launch in partnership with WMG, BMG and Believe, Music Business Worldwide. Accessed 29 Oct 2026.
- Reservoir sues Suno for infringement over 1,050 songs, Music Business Worldwide. Accessed 29 Oct 2026.
- Suno limits Pro subscribers to 20 song downloads per month, Music Business Worldwide. Accessed 29 Oct 2026.
Researched with AI assistance, written and checked by WATMM Desk.
Change log
- : First version. Seven deals, each checked against the release or a report on 29 Oct 2026. Warner's own newsroom refused our requests that day, so the two Warner rows cite AP and Music Business Worldwide reporting instead. Reported deals we could not open a source for (a publishers' pact with Udio and Klay, Warner and Stability AI) are left out until we can.
Published by the company behind Veena. Disclosures