I played the flute in elementary school and junior high, but I hated it and switched my elective to yearbook in high school.
In other words, my background in music is limited. And that makes me at least theoretically a good fit for AI music creation app Suno.
By now, we're well-versed in using written and verbal prompts to tell generative AI chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude to create the text, images and even videos we want. But tools to generate audio -- and music specifically -- are more limited. Suno hopes to fill this gap.
In fact, the AI startup's mission is to help anyone make music, regardless of their experience -- with no instruments required.
Suno released its iOS app in July. A blog post announcing the launch said an Android app, along with a global rollout and "a lot of fun updates," are coming "soon."
The app lets you make songs from text, as well as from uploaded audio. You can also listen to songs created by other users.
After downloading the app and logging in with a phone number or email, the app generates a username -- mine was PerplexedHiHat975, but you can edit if you wish. And then it's off to the races -- by clicking the pink/purple tab at the bottom that says, "Create," you are taken to a prompt window where you can type (or say) your request. You have up to 200 characters.
There's an upcoming milestone in my household, so my first query was for "a sad country song about my son starting middle school."
Once I clicked on Create, the app told me, "Your groove is on the way." It took about 30 seconds or so before the song was ready.
The result, Time Slips Away, featured an earnest male crooner who eerily began, "Pieces of Legos, sprawled out on the floor," which describes my home to a T. How did Suno know?? You can listen to the track here.
It's also almost the end of summer vacation, which means I don't have to pay a fortune for camp anymore, and that's something to celebrate. Next, I asked for "an '80s pop song that is also a party anthem."
I'm not sure it was as upbeat as I was hoping, but the result, Glow in the Night, honestly sounds like something Jennifer Lopez would record now. (And you have the option to tinker with your prompt to refine your results.)
Finally, to give myself a little boost, I asked for "a '90s R&B song about single moms triumphing over challenges."
It wasn't quite what I would think of as '90s R&B, but the song, Rise Above It, was undeniably catchy, and I found myself singing the chorus in my head throughout the day.
Suno says copyrighted works are blocked and all inputs with vocals remain private and unsearchable. To put it to the test, I tried to request songs in the style of the Beatles about donuts and in the style of Adele about horses but was denied. It didn't count against my song limit though.
With the free account, you can generate 10 songs per day. Paid plans run from $10 per month, which allows you to generate 500 songs, to $289 a year, which gives you access to 2,000 songs per month.
The Cambridge, Mass.-based startup was founded in 2022 by four alums of AI data company Kensho Technologies, which was acquired by financial data and analytics company S&P Global in 2018: Mikey Shulman, former head of machine learning; Keenan Freyberg, former head of strategic initiatives; Georg Kucsko, former head of AI research; and Martin Camacho, former chief architect.
Suno didn't respond to a request for comment.
The startup announced it raised $125 million in May.
Backers include Lightspeed Venture Partners, Matrix and Founder Collective, as well as former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman and former Apple director Daniel Gross.
In a blog post in May, Shulman, who serves as CEO, said proceeds will fund product development and hiring.
