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While more and more AI tools offer shortcuts and services to speed up audio and music production processes, AI music generators go one step further and claim to provide complete, ready-made songs. Is it still worth producing your own songs from scratch?
The State of AI Music Generators in 2024
While it may have seemed far off before music producers and artists would be pressured in their creative domain by AI, the ensemble ofAI mixing toolsandAI mastering serviceshave been joined by one-stop-shop AI music generators.
Similar toAI art generators, one of the appeals of AI music generators is the simplicity involved in creating music; all you need is a text prompt. This, in theory, is the goal of the organizations driving AI music generators—to make the creation of music accessible to all.
Now, let’s look at two ofthe best AI music generatorsavailable in 2024. You may have heard of the Jukebox AI music generator by OpenAI—the creators of ChatGPT—but the current frontrunners in the field of AI music generation are Suno and Udio.
While the Jukebox AI was known for its distorted, unclean sound, AI songs from the likes of Suno are getting worryingly good; at least on the surface.
TestingUdioto Make AI Music
Udio is a relative newcomer to the AI music scene, releasing its public beta in April 2024. It lags behind its competitor Suno but still offers a telling view into the capabilities and potential of AI music generators.
After creating a free account (via email), you can start creating songs via simple AI prompts.
After your prompt, Udio generates two distinct tracks, with different lyrics and instrumentation. The songs are limited to 32 seconds or so but can be downloaded. To make and download songs of a longer length, you will have to pick one of its paid subscription models.
It was immediately apparent that shorter prompts led Udio to fill in the blanks, adding in genre tags such as synthpop and other tags that can lead away from what you’re after. While the sonic quality is decent, considering the amount of variables involved in producing an okay-sounding song, there is noticeable sonic distortion.
This makes it immediately apparent, in many cases, that you’re listening to computerized, AI music. What’s more, even in the 30-second snippets, some instrumentation and structures come across as odd, breaking the flow of the music.
While Udio will undoubtedly improve at a scary rate, for now, it lags behind Suno in all fields.
TestingSunoto Make AI Music
Suno was created in 2023 and is leading the pack of AI music generation models by some distance. It lets you try its AI music generation for free after creating an account (via email). Version 3.5 enables you to receive a full song, up to four minutes in length, based on your text prompt.
Prompt Results
First, I tried a simple text prompt.
This prompt generated two tracks, titled Echoes in the Night. While similar in style, each offered a distinctive lead vocal sound.
For the most part, the structure of the songs, the composition, and the arrangement are on par with what you’d expect to hear from professional human counterparts on platforms like Spotify.
In most cases, each section progresses like you’d expect; intro → verse → pre-chorus → chorus → bridge, etc. This is reflected in the instrumentation as the percussion, harmonies, fillers, and transitions build anticipation and climax well in the main choruses.
The sonic quality of the songs themselves is where Suno shines, where the instrumental and vocals are mostly clean, defined, and mixed well with each other.
One of the negatives of Suno tracks is the lingering sizzle of unclean distortion that can often be heard accompanying the edges of all the vocals. The sound is similar to what you could associate with computerized vocals or vocals recorded on a bad microphone. This can also be heard in many of the instrumental elements as a subtle hiss.
In addition, inconsistencies appear in the structure of the songs where the verses are repeated in an unusual manner, or the vocal lead is suddenly singing solo at a low volume when it doesn’t make sense for it to do so.
Another key negative is that the AI-generated lyrics are bland and lifeless. However, to put the lyrical capabilities of Suno to the test, I developed my original prompt.
While maintaining its good-but-not-amazing sonic quality, the two new tracks, titled Finding Light, offer something more lyrically. It touches on deeper themes with the occasional poetic flourish. There are one or two lines that disrupt the flow of the lyrics, but overall, it seems to be an improvement.
Will AI Music Generators Replace Music Producers and Artists?
To answer this buzzword-loaded question, let’s look at the perspective of one of the first pioneers in the field of computer-generated music, David Cope.
Back in 1997, his creation EMI (Experiments in Musical Intelligence) fooled a live audience into thinking EMI’s Bach chorale emulation was made by the real Bach, while misattributing the actual Bach piece and another composer’s rendition to the wrong sources.
What did David Cope say about his creation? He perceived that his program could make “beautiful music but maybe not profound”.
This same sentiment applies to modern AI music.
It’s inevitable that the highly technical processes involved in music production and generation will improve considerably in the near and distant future. A pristine sound will be achieved. Beauty, to a degree, will be fulfilled.
The impact of this is that mediocre music, and that which only draws from superficial and surface-level meaning and inspiration, will be replaced by AI.
However, there are two elements that will not be captured in sync, and that is profound lyrics in tandem with a nuanced, heartfelt performance; whether in a bedroom, studio or live.
Don’t Stop Creating Your Own Music
Those wanting to experiment with music creation and some background music will find AI music generators to be a useful tool.
However, anyone in search of music or art that tells a story, pulls at the heartstrings, and needs refined and nuanced revisions, is better off finding real-life artists. You may be at the beginning of your creative journey or further on, learning tools that AI seemingly performs much better at in seconds.
Remember that it is in the journey of working to bring your vision to life and excavating deeper meaning that you distance yourself from superficial creations. This, in turn, brings into reality the profound.
It’s a long and at times slow path, with more and more potentially damaging shortcuts popping up all around, but if creating is your passion, don’t stop; keep going!
