For the past week or so, I have been testing the capabilities of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) music app called Suno. I paid $10 for a month of the Pro Plan which includes 2500 credits. Generating two versions of the same lyric costs 10 credits. 

WHAT DOES SUNO DO?
Suno generates music based on prompts provided by the user. In Suno’s “Simple” interface, you can provide as little as two or three words describing the sort of song you want. Within seconds, Suno will generate a lyric and spit out two performances. I typed “cheese pizza delight” with no other instructions. You can click HERE to hear one result: cheesy lyrics for a cheesy topic. Most lyrics generated by Suno are similarly lacking in creativity, but that sure is a catchy sax solo in the first link!

Suno’s “Custom” interface offers more control over the results. You can enter entirely original lyrics there. Or you might just enter a few lines…a chorus perhaps…then ask Suno to generate more lyrics to complete the song. There’s also a “Style” box to enter a paragraph describing how you’d like the song to progress, what instruments to use, what genre to set the performance in, etc. If you’re not sure how to describe it, give it a few keywords and Suno will flesh out a longer description. Refine the lyrics and style instructions as much as you like until you’re satisfied, then hit the Create button to generate two versions of the song. 

Right away, I noticed that Suno fails to acknowledge some of the most basic musical terms that most musicians would expect it to understand. For example, when I asked for a song called “Cheese Pizza Delight” with only the words “3/4 time signature” in the style description, I got THIS UTTER MESS. After I added the word “waltz” in the style box, though, I got THIS in 3/4 time. I asked for the same lyric to be rendered in 6/8 time, but it came out in 4/4. Some users have said Suno will follow precise commands regarding beats per minute, but entering “60 beats per minute” and “60 BPM” in the style box did not yield exact results for me. 

COVER FEATURE
Suno also has a feature called “Cover.” It’s almost a hidden feature. You must click the Audio button to upload a demo of a song you’ve already recorded before the Cover feature appears. If your demo is longer than two minutes, you’ll have to crop it down. The length restriction is a major limitation, obviously, since you can’t upload a full-length song demo. Another caveat is Suno will not allow you to publish a song for other Suno users to enjoy in the app if it’s derived from an upload that contains vocals. (People with whom you share the link can still hear it.)

I uploaded an instrumental demo of an organ playing the melody over piano chord accompaniment. A verse, chorus, bridge, and a repeat of the chorus were all I could fit into two minutes. The results were hit-and-miss. Suno had considerable difficulty reproducing the correct chords but generally got the melody correct. There’s no way I could find to point out to Suno which sections of the uploaded audio should be used for the intro, verse, chorus, bridge, tag, etc., so sometimes it was singing the verse lyrics over the chords I’d intended for the bridge.

Next, I uploaded a more complete demo of a song that is simpler in structure…no bridge, just three verses and a chorus. I cropped it down to just the intro, the first verse, and the first chorus for Suno to analyze. I instructed Suno to tag the final line. The results on the first try were much more accurate than my previous effort with the piano/organ demo. Click HERE to hear my original song demo and HERE to compare it with Suno’s version. Suno doesn’t precisely follow my melody on every single note, but what it sings is recognizable as the same basic tune…plus Suno is a better singer than me! I have since rendered the same song in multiple styles and can report that Suno is generally faithful to the melody. In a few instances, the chords got a bit weird.  

SUMMARY
The recent statement from some of Southern Gospel’s top music publishers included this sentence: “The intended use of AI technology is never to create the lyric or melody itself, but rather to provide a demonstration of what the original song sounds like.”

Making song demos of original, human-created material is not what Suno is primarily designed to do. Your original lyrics will remain correct, but you don’t have complete control over every detail in the melody, chord progressions, etc. The Cover feature can get the result close enough to your original that you can legitimately claim you are the author of the music as well as the lyrics. The main takeaway regarding the Cover feature, though, is you already need to have the ability to create some sort of demo yourself. And if you already have the ability to make a demo, do you even need Suno? Well, sure, if trying out your song out in different styles is appealing to you. 

If you’ve ever hired a professional singer/musician to create a demo or been blessed enough to have a professional artist record your songs, you know they’re going to make a few creative decisions as well. The result is never note-for-note and sometimes they’ll even tweak a lyric. Based on what I’ve tested so far, I would say that songwriters submitting demos made by Suno should only claim they actually authored their music IF they used the Cover feature. Short of using the Cover feature, the melody/chords/etc. are generated by Suno rather than the songwriter. This also gives you a sort of proof, because you can show any concerned music publisher your original demo that you uploaded to Suno if they have any concerns that the melody isn’t yours. 

UP NEXT
In part 3 of this series, I will tell you about a demo making software application that was first launched decades ago.  

In part 4, I will offer further opinions/observations on the statement issued by the Southern Gospel industry’s music publishers.

In part 5, I will revisit Suno and let you hear some results that may surprise you.

If I’ve misrepresented the capabilities of Suno in any way, I hope some of you who have used it longer than a week will respond with clarifications! Leave a comment here. If you prefer to keep your thoughts just between me and you, send them by email to: ai@musicscribe.com