Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony Music have asked a Manhattan federal court to compel DistroKid to disclose how much AI (artificial intelligence) music it delivers to streaming services.
The motion links UMG’s copyright lawsuit against the distributor with litigation against AI music generator Suno, as the labels seek evidence of harm to the market for human-created music.
An analysis of verified tracks found:
- The sample comprised 1,743 tracks by 886 artists from 54 countries.
- 92.8% of the tracks were made using Suno.
- DistroKid distributed 77.6% of those Suno-created tracks.
The labels are seeking to counter Suno’s “fair use” defense with evidence that AI-generated audio harms the commercial market for human creators.
Suno does not monitor music after users export it. The labels are therefore seeking distribution figures from DistroKid, which delivers releases to DSPs (digital service providers).
The legal efforts extend beyond developers’ use of training data to the distribution channels through which AI-generated music can earn revenue on streaming platforms.
DistroKid’s recent cleanup efforts have also removed legitimate human artists’ music, with slow customer support limiting their ability to resolve those removals.
