Your music is training AI. Who's cashing the check?

Issue #8 • October 5, 2026

The Deals Are Signed. Who Collects?

AI is finally paying for music. This issue follows the money.

A year ago, the AI music story was all lawsuits. Now it is mostly money. AI companies are signing licensing deals with the majors, and real dollars are starting to flow. Good news, but only if you are set up to receive it.

This issue follows the money in three parts: the deals turning a legal fight into a paying market, the fake streams draining the same pool your catalog draws from, and the distributor now letting artists decide for themselves whether AI can use their work.

Each one comes down to the same question: when AI money moves, is it moving to you?

— Royalty Solutions

Feature

Can Suno Buy Its Way Out of Music’s AI Lawsuits?

On September 9, Suno rebuilt its AI on licensed music and began paying the labels behind it. Two of the majors are still suing instead of signing, and even the money that does flow only lands with rights holders whose registrations and splits can be traced. Whether those AI dollars reach your catalog or slip past it is the detail we help you get right.

So can it? The answer is messier than a signed contract, and the full picture is worth the click.

Read on Music Ally → See What RSC Can Do for Your Catalog →

Essential Read

Your Favorite Song Might Be a Bot’s: Can Streaming Platforms Outrun AI Music Fraud?

Fraudsters no longer need to make music. AI spins up tracks by the thousand and bots stream them on loop, and insiders now think close to one in ten streams is fake, each one quietly skimming the royalty pool your catalog draws from. The loss never shows on a statement, only in a per-stream rate that is lower than it should be, which is exactly what we catch.

The platforms are fighting back, but how much they are still missing is startling. That is the part to read.

Read on Business Standard → See How RSC Protects Your Royalties →

Industry Update

Believe Struck an AI Deal With Suno. So Why Let Artists Opt Out?

When Believe let Suno train on its catalog, it added a rule the majors skipped: every artist has to opt in first. As CEO Denis Ladegaillerie put it, “The artist must consent first, period.” That sounds simple, until you ask how a company tracks that consent and pays the right artist across millions of works, which is the part we handle.

So why would a company that just signed a deal hand every artist a veto? The reasoning is worth a look.

Read on Music Business Worldwide → See How RSC Represents Catalogs →

Explore — RSC

Where RSC Fits In

Catalog Registration and Representation

AI licensing money only reaches rights holders it can identify. We make sure your works are registered correctly, your splits are accurate, and your ownership is documented, so that when these deals pay out, your catalog is one they can find.

Royalty Accounting and Statement Review

Fraud and pool dilution do not show up as a line item, they show up as a rate that is quietly too low. We read your statements closely across platforms and periods, and pursue what is owed, so eroded earnings do not slip past unnoticed.

See How We Can Help →

♫ Now Playing — Marie’s Playlist | Follow RSC on Spotify for more playlists from our team.

Client Spotlight

Rough Trade Publishing

Rough Trade Publishing is an independent music publisher with a catalog of influential indie and alternative songwriters, including The Magnetic Fields, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Joanna Newsom, Built to Spill, and Galaxie 500. That catalog stays active through covers and sync: this year Olivia Rodrigo covered The Magnetic Fields’ “Book of Love,” and the New York Times named the band’s Stephin Merritt one of the 30 greatest living American songwriters. A catalog like that earns across covers, syncs, streams, and now AI licensing, which is exactly where accurate registration and clean splits decide who collects. RSC provides royalty accounting and rights management support for Rough Trade Publishing.

Visit Rough Trade Publishing →

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White Label Publishing

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