The AI Music Briefing #23: Suno hired Ticketmaster's deal-maker to get its artists on stage

Issue #23 · the week of October 3 to October 9, 2026 · ~7 min read. The Friday read for music industry professionals working at the intersection of AI and the traditional music business. Curated by Christopher Wieduwilt.

What’s in store:

• Top Story: Suno hired Ticketmaster’s deal-maker to get its artists on stage, and what an alert can’t do for you
• The first US streaming fraudster gets 18 months, and the Copyright Office wants your numbers
• UMG’s Lucian Grainge says Suno’s licensed model makes “no difference”
• Italy opens a probe into Suno’s terms of service
• Google’s free AI checker can’t see a Suno song

This week in AI music: Michael Smith got 18 months, and UMG’s boss says Suno’s licensed model changes nothing

The first US streaming fraudster is going to prison, and the Copyright Office opened a public inquiry the next day. Italy opened a probe into Suno’s terms, and Lucian Grainge said Suno’s licensed model makes “no difference”.

Also, Google’s free AI checker reads a Suno song the same as a human one.

Michael Smith gets 18 months in prison for his $8 million AI streaming fraud

Judge John G. Koeltl sentenced Michael Smith to 18 months in prison on October 6 for his $8 million AI song and bot scheme, the first US criminal case for streaming fraud. Prosecutors had asked for at least 46 months, and he forfeits $8,091,843.64.

The US Copyright Office opens a public inquiry into streaming fraud and generative AI

The US Copyright Office opened a public inquiry into streaming fraud and generative AI on October 7. Anyone can comment until November 23, and every name and file goes public.

UMG’s Lucian Grainge says Suno’s licensed v6 makes “no difference”

UMG chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge told The Hollywood Reporter that Suno’s licensed v6 makes “no difference”, because Suno “trained on everybody’s music and showed complete disregard”. His 4 conditions for any AI deal: respect, compensation, protection and opt-in.

Italy’s AGCM opens an investigation into Suno’s terms of service

Italy’s competition authority opened an investigation into Suno’s terms of service on October 6. It names a moral rights waiver, US arbitration and account closures without notice, and it can fine up to €10 million.

Sony Music asks platforms to remove more than 260,000 tracks, including AI deepfakes

Sony Music has asked platforms to remove more than 260,000 tracks, including deepfakes of Adele, Harry Styles and Michael Jackson, the Financial Times reports. That’s nearly double the 135,000 it had flagged at the end of March.

Isekai Records acts Kilo Kent and Zemi sing their own songs, then change the voice with Suno

Isekai Records acts Kilo Kent and Zemi told Dazed they sing their own songs, then use Suno to change the voice. Kilo Kent’s “40’s” has more than 2.7 million Spotify plays, and neither profile carries Spotify’s AI Persona badge.

Google opens SynthID Detector to everyone, but it can’t see a Suno or Udio song

Google opened SynthID Detector to everyone on October 7. It finds the watermark in Lyria songs, but Suno and Udio aren’t partners, so their songs come back “not detected”, the same result a human recording gets.

Suno launches Albums, so you can publish an EP or LP to your followers

Suno launched Albums on October 5, so you can publish an EP or LP on Suno and push a notification to your followers. Publishing makes every song on the album public, and Suno says you can’t undo it.

SIQA announces 125 nominations for its first AI Music Awards

SIQA announced 125 nominations across 25 categories for its first AI Music Awards, held November 13 at The Mayan in Los Angeles. Verified artists in the SIQA Registry voted the nominees in from more than 2,000 submissions.

Signal Hill Insights survey: only 5% of Canadians like fully AI-generated music

Only 5% of Canadians like fully AI-generated music and 65% dislike it, a Signal Hill Insights survey of 6,161 people found. Teens are the softest, with 13% who like it. The question left out music AI only touched up.

University of Johannesburg study: AI music generators sideline African traditions

A University of Johannesburg study in AI & Society argues that AI music generators sideline African traditions. One dataset review it cites counted 27.5 hours of African music against 6,128 hours of European music.

Top Story: Suno hired Ticketmaster’s deal-maker to get its artists on stage

I’ve said it before: AI runs the workshop, humans keep the stage. Suno already runs a big part of the workshop. Now it wants a piece of the stage too.

On October 8, Suno hired Michael Chua to run Suno Live Experiences, which includes Songkick, the concert app it bought from Warner in November 2025. At Ticketmaster, Chua put tickets inside Google, Spotify, TikTok and Snap. So basically, his job was putting a ticket wherever the fan already is.

“I see an incredible opportunity at Suno to help artists take a song from the first idea to the stage,” Michael Chua, VP and General Manager of Suno Live Experiences, said in Suno’s announcement.

On April 30, Songkick told users Suno would control their data: who they follow, where they live, their alerts. Then Suno posted a job to “move a fan from creating music on Suno to driving live experiences on Songkick.” Chua’s role looks like that listing, filled.

Chief Music Officer Paul Sinclair named Spark, Suno’s incubator for unsigned artists, as “a central focus”. And honestly, for a Spark artist that could be great. Landing your first real gigs is one of the hardest parts of the job.

So Suno is building a path from creation tool to concert alert to ticket, with one company at every step. It rests on 2 beliefs: an alert gets a fan to the show, and the fans it finds become yours.

Songkick can tell a fan where you’re playing

Laylo launched a Discovery Agent the same day. How many fans will see your show? Its FAQ: “We don’t report that, and we won’t guess at it. What you see is the clicks your show earns.”

An alert can tell a fan where you’re playing. It can’t make them care enough to show up.

With Songkick and Laylo, the fan belongs to whoever sent the alert

That Songkick data sits with Suno, and Laylo’s texted fans stay on Laylo’s list. The live industry doesn’t tell you who came to your show, the Independent Music 2026 report says. So those fans stay with whoever sent the alert.

Suno hasn’t put a number on its live plan yet

No Spark showcase, no tour money, no launch date. The only number is Laylo’s: 80,000+ show recommendations for nearly 600 artists.

2 things I’m watching: whether Songkick starts recommending Suno-made artists next to label acts, and who books the rooms for Spark artists, on what terms.

Take the Songkick alert, and keep the fan yourself

• Keep your Spotify link and show dates current.
• Put a QR code to your own list at the venue.
• Count the contacts you collect each night.

Japanese Breakfast captured hundreds of fan phone numbers every night with QR codes at the venue, the Independent Music 2026 report says. That’s the trust you build one show at a time.

My rule asks more work of an artist playing their first shows. Take the alert anyway.

AI runs the workshop. Humans keep the stage.

AI Music Lawsuit Tracker: no AI music case moved this week

0 cases moved this week. RIAA v. Suno, UMG and Sony v. Suno (v6), RIAA v. Udio, GEMA v. Suno, the AFM case, UMG v. DistroKid, Concord v. Anthropic, SOCAN v. Suno, Lowery v. Suno, Round Hill, the artist class action and the Sony and Warner Chappell suit against Anthropic did not.

Michael Smith’s sentence and Italy’s probe of Suno sit in the news block above, because neither is one of these cases.

→ Full case files and timelines

Artist Index: Eddie Dalton, Aria Blu and Rebel Redeemed 316

3 new AI acts joined the Artist Index this week, and 4 profiles got refreshed.

Eddie Dalton: AI blues and soul at No. 1 on Billboard’s Blues Albums chart

Eddie Dalton is Dallas Little’s AI blues and soul act, whose album The Years Between debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Blues Albums chart.

Aria Blu: AI gospel at No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs

Aria Blu is an AI gospel singer whose “God Don’t Play About Me” hit No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs.

Rebel Redeemed 316: AI-assisted Christian southern rock at No. 6 on SIQA’s Top 100

Rebel Redeemed 316 is Jake Zerfas’s AI-assisted Christian southern rock project, made with Suno. “Send Me” reached No. 6 on SIQA’s Top 100 AI Songs.

Breaking Rust, Slime Dot, Solomon Ray and Xania Monet: refreshed after the SIQA AI Music Awards nominations

Breaking Rust, Slime Dot, Solomon Ray and Xania Monet were refreshed after the SIQA AI Music Awards nominations, where Slime Dot leads with 6 and Xania Monet has 5.

→ Browse the full Artist Index

One thing to do this weekend: send the Copyright Office your streaming fraud numbers

If your distributor ever pulled a track or clawed back royalties over bot streams you didn’t buy, write down the dates and amounts. That’s the evidence question 6 of the inquiry asks for. Open the regulations.gov comment form for Docket No. 2026-6 and paste up to 5,000 characters, or upload 1 file under 6 MB. Your name and file go public. Labels and streaming services will file. You have until 11:59 pm Eastern on November 23.

About The AI Music Briefing

The AI Music Briefing is a weekly Friday read for music industry professionals working at the intersection of AI and the traditional music business. Curated and written by Christopher Wieduwilt, founder of The AI Musicpreneur. Browse every issue of the briefing.

Got a tip, a story, or a partnership idea? Reach out any time. Every message lands directly in my inbox.

— Christopher