June 3 (Reuters) – Suno said on Wednesday it has raised more than $400 million in a funding round at a $5.4 billion valuation, as the AI music startup looks to enhance its platform by creating new tools.
Here are some details:
• The Massachusetts-based startup, which allows users to generate songs via AI prompts, said Bond Capital led the Series D funding round alongside venture capital firms such as IVP, Forerunner and Union Square Ventures
• AI music companies have been under growing scrutiny from artists, who have objected to the use of their work to train models without compensation
• More than 1,800 independent artists are supporting class-action lawsuits against Suno and Udio, alleging that the actions of these startups “were an attack” on the music community’s “most vulnerable and valuable members”
• Last year Udio signed deals with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group to settle copyright cases, while Suno reached a settlement with WMG
• Spotify announced a deal with UMG last month, allowing the Swedish streaming giant’s subscribers to create AI-generated covers and remixes of tracks by some of the label’s artists, doubling down on AI features to compete with Suno and Udio
• Suno plans to begin rolling out its first music model developed in partnership with WMG in the coming months
• The startup said in an emailed response it expects to work with additional industry partners, but did not provide further details
• Existing investors, including Lightspeed and Menlo Ventures, participated in the fundraise
• The startup had in November raised $250 million at a $2.45 billion valuation
(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Janane Venkatraman)
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