So I just saw the news that Warner and Suno were merging (edit: joining their ‘products’ together). As per the linked article it was part of a lawsuit settlement.

I predicted all of this in my essay Intellectual property in the times of AI, let me explain.

Warner is not a small label, it’s one of the Big Three along with Sony and Universal. Together, they practically own the RIAA in the United States, a “union” that lobbies for their interests, despite claiming to be big tent and “protecting all artists”. And this affects you if you live outside the US too, simply because they sign so many artists and control so much of the music industry. It’s like the FBI warning you get before you start a DVD no matter where you bought it or watch it.

As part of the deal, which is very interesting to Warner because it was won in court and therefore has cost them a lot less money than a financial merger would have, “Warner will let users create AI-generated music on Suno using the voices, names and likeness of artists who opt-in to the programme.”

These are of course only Warner artists, no one else. And, you are “opt-in” for now as an artist. In a year or two, you won’t be.

In the essay I talk about how one-sided the music industry is against the artists it signs, purporting to give them money and fame while these labels are actually the ones gatekeeping it. Of course they’ll “give” you money and fame, they’re the ones who control its flow.

When Warner offers you a contract, it’s already heavily one-sided in their favor and they own your music regardless. They can put it through a model at any time. They don’t need your permission, so I expect that very soon, contracts for new artists will not have an opt-in clause at all. It’s very hard to say no to a contract as a struggling artist and that’s intentional because again, the likes of Warner control music.

In the past, the RIAA was against piracy (another tool that helped break out some artists), music downloads (until they made a “deal” with Apple to control the pricing), and even the walkman. Yet as soon as they find a way to monetize it they adopt it, and this is what happened with Suno. They make lawsuits to stop new tech at first, then they adopt it when they find how to monopolize it.

These labels present this relationship as if they’re the ones who can make you successful, when in fact they are the ones preventing you from being successful as an artist.

As part of the new Suno, downloading generated music will no longer be possible on the free plan. No mention of how much the price will be either, but you know it won’t be 8$ a month. They will also retire their current models in favor of “new” ones which means basically, you will only be able to make Warner music with the new Suno and nothing else.

And of course all of this consent was manufactured by big name artists like Billie Eilish and Nicki Minaj (quoting the BBC here). Only the opinion of these big artists who have ‘succeeded’ in the industry is important, because they sell the dream that if you put in just a little bit of hard work you too can make millions on your music. But normal people don’t get the contracts Eilish and Minaj do. They added this to an open letter:

the artists say AI will “infringe upon our rights and devalue the rights of human artists”

You mean exactly like your label is doing right now? But of course you can’t say that while you’re signed to them.

tldr the tankies were right again and the only solution is socialism.