Universal Music Group and Sony Music are ratcheting up the pressure on distribution powerhouse DistroKid with a new legal filing in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York. The action is closely tied to two existing lawsuits filed by the majors against DistroKid and aims to force the distributor to disclose internal data regarding how many AI-generated songs it uploads to streaming platforms—particularly from Suno.
The filing also includes demands for details related to DistroKid’s AI-detection tools, which the company previously refused to disclose, asserting that it was irrelevant to the labels’ case against Suno. But Sony and UMG counter that it is critical to the broader Suno “fair use” defense and illustrates the copyright infringement and harm committed by the AI platform.
Moreover, the information Sony and UMG are requesting is critical in proving the labels’ theory that the combined forces of Suno and DistroKid form a major cog in the machine that floods DSPs with AI slop, crowding out their IP and harming their business with copyright-infringing content. The labels called the data “highly relevant information that only DistroKid possesses,” which is “proportional to a case in which the market effect of AI-generated music is a central contested question.”
The filing claims that between March and September this year, DistroKid distributed nearly 12 million tracks to a single unnamed DSP—more than all other distributors combined.
The new action comes on the heels of UMG’s lawsuit against DistroKid with allegations that the distributor has empowered bad actors to upload AI slop to streaming platforms at scale, diluting the royalty pool for legitimate musicians. Notably, Sony Music is not a part of that lawsuit.
