The fake DJ blueprint: how scammers are generating tracks, automixing sets, and taking the credit. From "prompt-to-playlist" schemes to fabricated DJ sets, a new wave of scammers is using AI tools like Suno to flood the industry with fake music and steal millions in royalties. We investigate how the "ghostless producer" phenomenon is turning electronic music into a digital hall of mirrors where nothing is real. Welcome to 2025, where your favorite new underground artist might be a server farm, and that "deep house" playlist you're vibing to was generated by a guy named Ryan in his lunch break. Here's how the AI music grift is turning the industry into a digital hall of mirrors. It used to be that if you wanted to be a fake DJ, you at least had to learn how to stand behind a Pioneer deck and twist a knob that wasn't connected to anything. It was a noble grift. It required presence. It required a black V-neck t-shirt and the ability to jump on beat. But in 2025, the bar for being a musical fraud has been lowered so far it's currently sitting in the Mariana Trench.

Warner Music has settled its lawsuit and agreed a licensing deal with Suno. As with Warner’s earlier Udio deal, Suno will now make changes to its platform, while creator consent will be sought for voice clones and song remixes. However, there is one difference with this deal: Suno also gets Songkick

Warner Music Group and Suno forge groundbreaking partnership. Warner Music Group (Nasdaq: WMG), one of the world's largest music companies, and Suno, the leader in AI music, today announced a first-of-its-kind partnership that will open new frontiers in music creation, interaction, and discovery, while both compensating and protecting artists, songwriters, and the wider creative community. The deal brings together Suno's best-in-class AI capabilities with WMG's artist development leadership and expertise at the intersection of music and technology. The deal also settles previous litigation between the companies. Robert Kyncl, CEO, WMG said: "This landmark pact with Suno is a victory for the creative community that benefits everyone. With Suno rapidly scaling, both in users and monetization, we've seized this opportunity to shape models that expand revenue and deliver new fan experiences. AI becomes pro-artist when it adheres to our principles: committing to licensed models, reflecting the value of music on and off platform, and providing artists and songwriters with an opt-in for the use of their name, image, likeness, voice and compositions in new AI songs." Mikey Shulman, CEO, Suno said: "Our partnership with Warner Music unlocks a bigger, richer Suno experience for music lovers, and accelerates our mission to change the place of music in the world by making it more valuable to billions of people. Together, we can enhance how music is made, consumed, experienced and shared. This means we'll be rolling out new, more robust features for creation, opportunities to collaborate and interact with some of the most talented musicians in the world, all while continuing to build the biggest music ecosystem possible." In 2026, Suno will make several changes to the platform, including launching new, more advanced and licensed models. When the new models launch in 2026, the current models will be deprecated. Moving forward, downloading audio will require a paid account. Suno will introduce download restrictions in certain scenarios: specifically, in the future, songs made on the free tier will not be downloadable and will instead be playable and shareable. Paid tier users will have limited monthly download caps with the ability to pay for more downloads. With a goal to continue building with the music community, Suno has also acquired Songkick, the live music, concert-discovery platform, from Warner Music Group, and will continue to run it as a successful fan destination, bringing together the power of interactive music with live performance. The combination of Suno and Songkick will create new potential to deepen the artist-fan connection. The partnership will build on what 100 million creators love about Suno while allowing artists and songwriters to benefit from new revenue streams, and adding powerful new interactive features that offer opportunities for deeper fan engagement. Artists and songwriters will have full control over whether and how their names, images, likenesses, voices, and compositions are used in new AI-generated music. Together, WMG and Suno are committed to forging a blueprint for a next-generation licensed AI music platform.