This week, ElevenLabs struck its first agreement with a major music company — a multi-year licensing deal with Universal Music Group.
Meanwhile, Suno launched its new v6 AI music models in partnership with Warner Music Group, BMG and Believe.
In related news: Suno and Believe struck a global licensing deal covering participating repertoire from Believe and TuneCore.
Also this week, HYBE‘s superfan platform Weverse confirmed a data leak affecting 422,584 accounts, including payment and refund details.
Plus: UMG confirmed it has now bought back nearly €1 billion of its own shares in 2026.
Here are some of the biggest headlines from the past few days…
1. ElevenLabs’ $11B valuation is more than twice the size of Suno’s. It just struck a global AI music deal with UMG.
Universal Music Group has signed a multi-year licensing agreement with ElevenLabs.
ElevenLabs will launch a new AI-powered music platform for fans under the deal, with the two companies also jointly developing AI audio products for artists and songwriters.
It is ElevenLabs‘ first agreement with a major music company, according to the two firms. (MBW)
2. Suno inks global licensing deal with Believe
Believe has struck a strategic partnership with Suno, just over four months after it began blocking the distribution of tracks made on the AI music platform.
The agreement, announced on Tuesday (September 8), covers “participating repertoire” from Believe and TuneCore, its platform for self-releasing artists. Believe confirmed to MBW that the partnership is global in scope.
“Under the agreement, music from participating Believe and TuneCore artists and labels will be included in the new music models that Suno is launching in partnership with the music industry,” the two companies said. (MBW)
3. Suno launches v6 AI music models in partnership with WMG, BMG, and Believe
AI music platform Suno, facing copyright claims on several fronts, has been promising licensed models since November 2025.
That month, it settled Warner Music Group’s copyright lawsuit and said it would launch “new, more advanced and licensed models” in 2026.
In the months since, Suno has signed deals with BMG and, just yesterday, Believe. It has also committed to audio watermarking and fingerprinting technology, and capped the number of songs its subscribers can download each month. (MBW)
4. HYBE’s Weverse confirms data leak affecting 422,584 accounts, including payment and refund details
HYBE’s superfan platform Weverse has confirmed that data from 422,584 accounts was leaked, a figure the company said was calculated based on account ID units.
The leak was disclosed in a notice issued on Sunday (September 6) by Zooil Yang, President of Weverse Company, the HYBE subsidiary that operates the platform.
The company classified one leaked item as personal information: internal identification information, which it described as a unique internal numerical value generated for user identification at registration. (MBW)
5. UMG has now bought back nearly €1 billion of its shares this year
Universal Music Group has completed the €250 million share buyback program it launched in August – the last of three repurchases under a €1 billion share repurchase commitment the company set out in April.
UMG has spent EUR €999.2 million (USD $1.16 billion) on its own stock this year as a result.
Universal confirmed on Monday (September 7) that the €250 million program, the second of two open-market buybacks it has run this year, was finished. (MBW)
Partner message: MBW’s Weekly Round-up is supported by BMI, the global leader in performing rights management, dedicated to supporting songwriters, composers and publishers and championing the value of music. Find out more about BMI here. Music Business Worldwide
