How to Make AI Generated Music: A Beginner’s Guide

The landscape of music production has shifted dramatically. What once required a multi-thousand-dollar studio setup, a band, or years of mastering audio software can now be initiated with a well-crafted text prompt. Whether you are an experienced songwriter looking to sketch out demo ideas or a total beginner wanting to turn a catchy lyric into a full radio-ready track, artificial intelligence has made music creation accessible to everyone.

Step 1: Choose Your Platform

Before you write a single word of lyrics or a prompt, you need to select the right AI music generator for your creative goals. The two dominant tools currently leading the industry are:

• Suno: Known for its massive community, incredible range of vocal styling, and ease of use. It excels at generating complete, cohesive songs with vocals from scratch, and features advanced tools like stem separation and browser-based DAWs for deep editing.
• Udio: Praised for exceptional prompt adherence, high-fidelity instrumental mixes, and precise surgical editing features (like inpainting) that let you modify specific sections of a track.

(Note: Free tiers are widely available on both platforms to experiment with daily generation credits.)

Step 2: Master the Art of Prompting

The secret to getting a great song out of an AI model lies in how you describe it. Avoid generic terms like “make a sad song.” Instead, break your prompt down into core components: Genre, Mood, Instrumentation, Era, and Vibe.

• Bad Prompt: "A pop song about summer."
• Good Prompt: "1980s synth-pop, upbeat and nostalgic, driving bassline, shimmering analog synthesizers, crisp electronic drums, warm male vocals about late-night road trips."

By combining specific production descriptors with emotional cues, the model can dial in the exact sonic texture you are looking for.

Step 3: Structure Your Lyrics and Metatags

If you want to write your own lyrics rather than letting the AI generate them entirely, switch your platform to Custom Mode. This allows you to guide the song’s structural layout using metatags (brackets placed within your lyrics).

Effective structural tags include:

• [Verse] / [Chorus] / [Bridge] / [Outro]
• [Guitar Solo] / [Instrumental Break]
• [Spoken Word Intro] / [A Cappella]

Example Layout:

[Verse 1]
Neon lights reflecting on the wet pavement,
Walking through the city where our story started.

[Chorus]
Oh, we're running out of time,
Chasing shadows down the line!

Using these brackets helps the model understand pacing, dynamic shifts, and where musical transitions should occur.

Step 4: Iterate, Extend, and Polish

AI music generation is rarely a “one-shot perfection” game. Most creators generate 3 to 4 variations of a prompt to find the best vocal take or melody line. Once you find a clip you love:

1. Extend the Track: Most generators output clips around 1 to 2 minutes long. Use the “Extend” feature to add a bridge, final chorus, or outro seamlessly.
2. Isolate Stems: If you plan to mix your track further in a traditional digital audio workstation (DAW) like Logic or Ableton, use built-in stem splitters to separate vocals, bass, drums, and instruments into individual audio tracks.