Believe has struck a strategic partnership with Suno, just over four months after it began blocking the distribution of tracks made on the AI music platform.
The agreement, announced on Tuesday (September 8), covers “participating repertoire” from Believe and TuneCore, its platform for self-releasing artists. Believe confirmed to MBW that the partnership is global in scope.
“Under the agreement, music from participating Believe and TuneCore artists and labels will be included in the new music models that Suno is launching in partnership with the music industry,” the two companies said.
According to the announcement, Believe and TuneCore artists and labels “can choose to opt in to new, licensed music products that the companies will create together.”
The companies added: “All tracks created by artists using Suno‘s new industry partner model will become eligible to distribute through Believe and TuneCore.
“This change from Believe‘s April 2026 decision to block the distribution of Suno‘s then-current models reflects the progress achieved in recent months for artists.”
Believe set out that policy on April 30, when it began automatically blocking the distribution of tracks made on unlicensed platforms, a category in which it placed Suno.
The announcement refers only to output from Suno‘s new industry partner model. Tracks made on its existing models – which the company has said will be retired when the new models launch – are not covered.
“Under the partnership, artists who consent to participate will be compensated for their music and their rights will be protected,” the release said. “They will also benefit from Suno‘s training protections and recently announced transparency tools and download limits.”
Suno confirmed those download limits in August, capping Pro subscribers at 20 song downloads a month and Premier subscribers at 60, with no cap for those using its Suno Studio production suite. The limits took effect on September 3.
“For 20 years, we have been helping artists and labels reach their full potential, and increasingly that means working with new technology like AI, while ensuring that responsible innovation translates into greater opportunities and value-generation for artists,” said Denis Ladegaillerie, Founder and CEO of Believe.
“The partnership we worked on with Suno for Believe and TuneCore unlocks powerful tools for all artists and labels. It now gives them a meaningful choice over how they can participate, protect their rights and enables them to share the value created by innovative responsible AI technologies.”
“IT NOW GIVES THEM A MEANINGFUL CHOICE OVER HOW THEY CAN PARTICIPATE, PROTECT THEIR RIGHTS AND ENABLES THEM TO SHARE THE VALUE CREATED BY INNOVATIVE RESPONSIBLE AI TECHNOLOGIES.”
Denis Ladegaillerie, Believe
“We have always shared a common goal with Believe to support independent artists at all stages of their careers. This partnership will significantly expand opportunities for independent artists, giving them access to creative tools, new paths to distribute their music through Believe and TuneCore, and more exposure,” said Mikey Shulman, CEO of Suno.
Shulman added: “We’ve been laying the foundation for the next generation of Suno, strengthening our safeguards, expanding our industry partnerships, and learning from artists testing our upcoming music models.
“We’re thrilled to work with Believe on innovative product experiences that will give their artists new ways to earn and build even deeper connections with their fans.”
The deal adds to licensing agreements Suno has struck with Warner Music Group and BMG.
Warner Music Group settled its copyright lawsuit against Suno in November 2025, in what the companies called a “first-of-its-kind partnership” that also saw Suno acquire concert-discovery platform Songkick from WMG.
BMG followed on August 12, signing a deal with Suno that BMG described as a “global alliance” covering its recorded and publishing repertoire, and which settled Suno’s past use of the company’s recordings and songs.
Believe announced on April 30 that it and TuneCore were automatically blocking distribution of AI-generated tracks produced partly or fully on unlicensed platforms.
Believe‘s definition of “pirate studios” included Suno, which at that point remained unlicensed by the company.
Speaking to MBW at the time, Ladegaillerie said Believe had deployed Gen-AI detection technologies that had become “99% reliable,” identifying the specific model and platform behind a given track.
“Two or three months ago, everyone still thought Suno, and some of the other still-unlicensed studios, might yet get licensed [by the industry’s biggest rights-holders],” Ladegaillerie told MBW.
“The reality now is it’s unlikely, at least for the models they’ve already trained on. Which means the Gen-AI content made on those models is illegal, and is going to stay illegal, for the foreseeable future.”
That April announcement also confirmed Believe had licensed two other Gen-AI companies, ElevenLabs and Udio.
Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment remain in litigation against Suno in the US, alleging copyright infringement in the training of its past models.
The labels filed an amended complaint in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts on August 25, adding a claim that Suno circumvented a technological measure controlling access to recordings on YouTube.
In a separate order on August 18, District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV denied the labels’ bid to add 61,026 recordings to the 560 already in suit.
Elsewhere, four musicians, Jason Isbell, David Lowery, Guy Forsyth and Eduardo Calle, filed a proposed class action against Suno in the same court on August 31, claiming the platform captures and monetizes musicians’ names, voices and identities. That case rests on state right-of-publicity laws rather than copyright. Suno called the claims “without merit.”
Suno also lost a copyright case in Germany on July 31, when the Munich Regional Court found against it in a claim brought by collecting society GEMA, ordering it to disclose revenue and pay damages that have yet to be set. The first-instance judgment is not final, and Suno said it disagreed with the ruling and was weighing its options, including an appeal.
Denmark’s Koda brought its case before Copenhagen City Court in November 2025, and that action remains live.
Canada’s SOCAN then filed a statement of claim against Suno in the Federal Court of Canada on September 2, becoming the third collecting society to take the company to court.
That claim challenges the platform’s outputs and the streaming of them to users in Canada, rather than the copying involved in training Suno’s model.
Suno raised more than USD $400 million in June 2026 at a $5.4 billion valuation, and has said more than 100 million people have used its platform.Music Business Worldwide
