Imagine cranking out songs faster than ever before. An AI music generator doing the heavy lifting while you focus on the creative decisions. It's already happening.

AI tools now handle songwriting, producing, mixing, and mastering. In this guide, I'll show you exactly how to use them in 2025.

Disclaimer: People think quality = success. Truth is, hits happen because the creator has a massive following OR loads of cash. AI can help you make a song that should be famous. Doesn't mean it will be famous. This is even more true now - when millions of people are able to crank out good music - you have to have some unfair advantage to standout. 

The Big Three: Suno, Udio, and ElevenLabs

The AI music generation space has completely transformed since 2024. Three platforms dominate: Suno, Udio, and ElevenLabs Music.

Each has its strengths. Each has its problems. And right now, major record labels are suing two of them for copyright infringement. 🎵

I've tested all three extensively. Here's what actually matters.

Suno: The All-Rounder That Actually Works

Suno just dropped their v5 model in September 2025. It's the platform I recommend to most people starting out.

Why? Simple. It gives you 50 free credits daily (that's 10 full songs). The interface doesn't make you want to throw your laptop out the window. And here's the kicker - you can export up to 12 separate instrument stems.

That stem export feature is HUGE. It means you can take the AI-generated drums, bass, vocals, whatever - and drop them straight into your DAW for real production work.

They're also launching something called "Suno Studio" soon. Think of it as an AI workstation where you can add, remove, and manipulate individual tracks. Finally, some actual control over what these things spit out.

 

The catch? Editing specific sections can be a nightmare. Change one line of lyrics and suddenly your vocalist sounds like a completely different person. The mobile app is also pretty buggy.

Udio: The Former Champion (Still Great for Lyric Swaps)

Udio used to be incredible. Like, jaw-dropping good. The team from Google DeepMind built something special back in 2024.

But something happened. Users are reporting a massive drop in quality. The vocals turn to gibberish. The music sounds generic. One user put it perfectly: "you can hear the creativity drop." 

I would also argue that in most cases, Suno has surpassed Udio's lead on audio quality.

The workflow is still unique though. You build songs in 30 second or 2 minute chunks. When it works, you get incredible control. When it doesn't, you waste hours generating garbage. 

Here's the thing - for one specific use case, Udio remains unbeatable: lyric swapping. If you need to change the lyrics of an existing song while keeping the melody and vibe intact, Udio is still my top pick with the remix and inpaint features. 

Speaking of which, if you want to experiment with lyric changes, check out ChangeLyric - my DIY tool for modifying song lyrics.

Their recent "Voices" feature lets you save and reuse specific vocal styles.

ElevenLabs: The Premium Option That's Playing It Safe

ElevenLabs entered the game late (August 2025) but came prepared. They're the only platform that licensed their training data BEFORE launching. No lawsuits. No legal drama.

The audio quality? Pristine. Studio-grade 44.1kHz output. The vocals may be the best I've heard from any AI platform. Makes sense - they've been doing AI voice synthesis longer than anyone.

But here's the problem: it's expensive comparatively. Generate a few variations of a 3-minute track and watch your credits evaporate. 😅

Some also complain the interface is clunky compared to Suno. You can build songs section by section, which gives you control but can kill the creative flow. They do have an option to generate full 4 minute songs for users who don't want the hassel though.

Overall - definitely worth trying out in my opinion!

AI Songwriting: Getting Lyrics That Work

The tools for songwriting have gotten scary good. But there's still no magic button that writes a hit song from scratch.

AI Lyrics That Don't Suck

Suno's new ReMi Lyric model performs much better than most of the integrated lyric writing tools in AI music platforms. 

But ChatGPT remains my go-to for finalizing lyrics quickly. You can also give it custom rules to follow each time. Feed it a concept, mood, and genre. It'll generate dozens of options. Most will be trash. Some will surprise you.

Pro tip: Generate 10x more lyrics than you need. Cherry-pick the best lines. AI is a volume game - quantity leads to quality.

For melodies and chords, honestly? A lot of the time I still use my brain. Humming ideas that are original may help seperate you form a crowd who's using only AI generated melodies. The creative spark still comes from humans.

Most AI music tools like Suno allow you to upload audio that it can reference (like you singing an idea) and it  can turn it into a full song - often with muixed results. Want something experimental for drums and textures? Stable Audio is solid instrumental music underdog in the AI music space. 

Production, Mixing, and Mastering

No AI can turn a melody into a radio-ready production automatically. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. But honestly - it's getting pretty close. And - in many cases like comedy - production quality does not matter as much.

AI Vocals That Sound Human

For creating vocals from scratch, you have two powerhouse options. Synthesizer V has been around longer and is rock-solid. Import MIDI, assign pronunciation, export. Simple.

The newer player is ACE Studio. They offer 80+ royalty-free AI singers, MIDI-to-vocal conversion, and even an AI violin model. Their VST plugin integration is smoother than Synthesizer V, which matters if you live in your DAW. 🎤

Both tools let you control everything - pitch, emotion, vibrato, breathing. The level of detail is INSANE.

I don't use them personally - because they are very time consuming to program and I'd rather just sing it or use the vocals generated by something like Suno.

Mixing and Mastering

Quick reality check: good mixing won't save a bad song. Neither will mastering.

That said, iZotope remains the best AI-assisted option. Their Neutron plugin analyzes your track and suggests EQ, compression, and other settings. Not perfect, but a solid starting point.

For mastering, iZotope's Ozone is my pick. The AI gives you a baseline master that you can tweak. Way more control than fully automated services like LANDR.

LANDR works if you have zero mastering knowledge. But you're stuck with whatever it gives you. No tweaking. No adjustments.

Actually Using These Tools: Real Workflows

Theory is nice. Practice is what matters. Here's how to actually make music with these tools.

The Suno Speed Run

1. Type a prompt like "energetic punk rock anthem about corporate burnout"
2. Hit create. Get two full songs in 30 seconds
3. Pick the better one
4. Use Custom Mode for more control - add your own lyrics with tags like [Verse], [Chorus], [Bridge]
5. Export stems if you want to polish in your DAW

That's it. You have a song. Is it perfect? No. Is it usable? ABSOLUTELY.

The ElevenLabs Quality Build

1. Start with a 30-second intro
2. Click "Add Section" for each part (verse, chorus, etc.)
3. Write specific prompts for each section
4. Use include/exclude tags (include: "reverb vocals", exclude: "electronic elements")
5. Build your song piece by piece
6. Export when done

Takes longer. Costs more. Sounds better.

The Hybrid Approach (My Favorite)

1. Generate ideas in Suno (fast and cheap)
2. Export the best stems
3. Import into your DAW
4. Replace weak elements with your own recordings
5. Mix properly
6. Master with iZotope

This combines AI efficiency with human creativity. Best of both worlds.

Sometimes I will combine multiple ideas from Suno in my DAW, export them as a Frankenstien take, then upload that back into Suno. THEN I will use their Cover feature to get a final smoothed-out result. Then export stems that can be mixed. 

Cover Art and Visuals

Your song needs artwork. Midjourney is still an awesome choice for album covers and promotional art.

Prompt example: "dark atmospheric album cover, red undertones, abstract war imagery, oil painting style"

Generate 10+ variations. Pick the best. Need to edit or refine the image? Google's Imagen and Nano Banana are great tools for AI-powered image editing. 🎨

Edit final touches in Photopea (free Photoshop alternative). Upscale to 3000x3000 for streaming platforms.

One warning: AI still sucks at text sometimes. 

The Legal B.S.

Major record labels are suing Suno and Udio for copyright infringement. They allegedly trained on copyrighted music without permission.

ElevenLabs avoided this by licensing everything upfront. Costs more, but zero legal risk.

If you're making music for fun? Use whatever. If you're building a business? Consider ElevenLabs or wait for the lawsuits to settle.

Time to Make Some Music

AI music generation in 2025 isn't perfect. But it's good enough to be useful. Really useful.

Want to experiment with changing song lyrics and vocals using AI? Check out ChangeLyric - my DIY tool for modifying existing songs with new lyrics or voices.

Don't want to deal with any of this yourself? I'll handle everything. My lyric changing service at Music Made Pro takes your concept and delivers a finished track.

The tools exist. The quality is there. Stop reading about it and start creating.

Making music has never been easier.