Amazon partners with Suno despite copyright controversey
Amazon’s new Alexa+ features dubious Suno integration, as part of major AI technology adoption.
Last week, Amazon unveiled the new, AI-powered iteration of Alexa, Alexa+. The smart assistant has been infused with generative AI technology to ensure the delivery of more natural interactions, and to make it more conversational and intuitive. Amongst the swathe of new features announced by Amazon, a Suno integration is included to allow users to turn requests into complete songs. The AI music generator has made plenty of headlines in recent months, and not for great reasons. This partnership between the owner of Amazon Music and Suno is bound to displease music industry members, which may not be wholly surprising.
Back in January Suno was sued by GEMA, the German collection society and licensing body. The lawsuit centred around GEMA’s accusation that Suno had been training its AI on copyrighted material from GEMA’s repertoire.
This isn’t the only lawsuit against the AI music company relating to the training of AI using copyrighted music without permission. Previously, major record companies sued Suno and fellow AI music firm Udio for this very reason – which Suno has since essentially admitted to, claiming fair use and stating that “learning is not infringing”.
None of this appears to have put Amazon off forming a partnership with Suno. The feature enables Alexa+ users to generate AI prompts using voice prompts. Panos Panay, SVP of Devices & Services, wrote in an Amazon blog post, “Using Alexa’s integration with Suno, you can turn simple, creative requests into complete songs, including vocals, lyrics, and instrumentation. Looking to delight your partner with a personalized song for their birthday based on their love of cats, or surprise your kid by creating a rap using their favorite cartoon characters? Alexa+ has you covered.” This is ideal if you’re one of the many people that Suno boss Mikey Shulman believes “don’t enjoy the majority of the time they spend making music.”
Perhaps one of the more interesting points around this story is the fact this partnership has been revealed just three months after Universal announced an “expanded global relationship” with Amazon Music. Part of that deal outlines that the two companies will “work collaboratively to address, among other things, unlawful AI-generated content.”
According to insiders, no heads up was given to Amazon’s music partners, including Universal, about the new partnership with Suno. As the lawsuits that Suno is embroiled in are ongoing, it remains to be seen whether this clashing of interests will impact Amazon’s Alexa+ plans.