Tracks generated on Suno will soon carry a hidden fingerprint the company hopes survives on any platform. The AI music startup is also restricting downloads and rewriting its community rules, changes laid out in an August 6 post by chief executive Mikey Shulman.
The measures are aimed at people who move AI-made songs onto streaming services to farm royalties. Shulman said the watermarking is built to be durable and resistant to tampering without affecting the listening experience. Suno has not said whether it will use an existing system like Google’s SynthID or build its own.
Separately, Suno reached a deal with lyric data firm Musixmatch, whose Sentinel system will handle copyright detection. A new download policy is planned to bar mass distribution on streaming platforms, and updated guidelines now prohibit deceptive audio presented as real and the use of a real person’s voice or likeness without permission.
The moves come as Suno fights lawsuits from Universal Music Group and Sony Music, coordinated by the RIAA. Late last month a German court ruled the platform broke copyright rules in a case brought by licensing agency GEMA, and the company faces a class action in Massachusetts tied to a breach that exposed 55 million accounts.
Suno raised $400M in a Series D round in June.
