Artists Launch 'Say No To Suno' Anti-AI Campaign
A coalition including the Artist Rights Alliance and SAG-AFTRA launched the "Say No To Suno" campaign, criticizing AI music generator Suno for training models on copyrighted works without consent. The campaign warns that AI-generated "slop" could dilute royalty pools for legitimate artists and undermine the value of original songwriting.
- The "Say No to Suno" open letter was published on the Music Technology Policy blog on February 23, 2026, and signed by figures including executives from the Music Artist Coalition and the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance. - The campaign runs parallel to another initiative called "Stealing Isn't Innovation," which is backed by the RIAA and has garnered support from nearly 800 artists and writers. - This pushback comes as Suno faces multiple copyright infringement lawsuits from major music companies like Sony Music and Universal Music Group, as well as European music rights organizations. While Warner Music Group settled with Suno in November 2025, the company remains in legal battles with others. - Suno has publicly admitted in court filings to using copyrighted songs to train its AI, but defends the practice as legal under the "fair use" doctrine. The company argues the process is like a musician learning by listening to music. - The volume of AI-generated music is a significant concern; streaming service Deezer reported that as of January 2026, 60,000 AI-generated tracks were being uploaded to its platform daily, accounting for 39% of all new music delivered to the service. - Economic studies project that by 2028, music creators could see 24% of their revenues put at risk due to substitution by AI-generated content. - In response to the backlash, Suno has hired several music industry veterans, including the former CEO of Merlin, Jeremy Sirota, as its Chief Commercial Officer and a former Spotify executive as its Senior Director of Artist Partnerships. - Legal experts note that works created entirely by artificial intelligence cannot be copyrighted under current U.S. Copyright Office rulings, meaning the economic value of music made with Suno lies with the company, not the user.
