Suno on Thursday unveiled a new incubator program for artists, “Spark,” that it says is designed to allow artists to receive grants, mentorship and distribution opportunities for their work.
The program — which is open to unsigned singers, songwriters and producers 18 and older – will give the selected individuals grants ranging in the thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, additional funds for marketing, invitations to Suno’s songwriting camps and the opportunity for feedback on their work. Artists will retain the creative and commercial rights over the work created through the program, and they can choose who distributes their work.
“Again and again, emerging artists tell us the same thing: they need more than tools. They need support, exposure, and new ways to turn their creativity into opportunity,” Suno’s chief music officer Paul Sinclair and head of creator economy and monetization Rosie Nguyen said in a blog post on Thursday. “Spark’s goal is to help more artists turn ideas into finished projects, connect those projects with fans, and build new opportunities to grow their careers both on and beyond Suno.”
Suno has previously held songwriting camps, where it’s hosted artists including Timbaland and songwriters Om’Mas Keith and Gino the Ghost, according to Billboard. The news comes as the AI music platform continues to try to position itself as a partner to the music industry, touting its upcoming model in partnership with Warner Music Group and claiming that several artists and producers within the industry contributed to its recent $400 million investment round, which valued the company at $5.4 billion.
“One of the best parts of working in music is discovering artists at the beginning of their journey,” Sinclair and Ngyuen wrote. “We can’t wait to meet the talented creatives who join Spark, hear what they’re working on, share their stories, and learn from them along the way.”
Still, it weathers active litigation from Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment — and distaste from top artists.
On Saturday, SZA on Instagram claimed producer Diplo was an investor in the company and helped it train its models on “the best and brightest black minds of writers and producers,” writing that hundreds of her songs were used to train AI models. She also said musicians who supported AI music generators, which she labeled as “degenerate shit,” were “disgusting” and disavowed any acceptable use cases of the product.
“there’s NOTHING YOU COULD EVER SAY TO ME TO MAKE THIS OKAY,” she wrote. “I hope u have the life u deserve.”
A Suno spokesperson declined to comment and pointed to a LinkedIn post from the company’s chief product officer, Jack Brody, who wrote last week that Suno’s training metadata does not include artists’ names, cannot replicate material it was trained on and that Suno was increasingly trying to improve impersonation detection.
