How to Create Music with AI: A Quickstart Guide

There’s no denying that artificial intelligence is officially part of the music industry’s creative landscape. Whether it’s generating beats, suggesting chord progressions, or even writing lyrics, AI is no longer a sci-fi concept or a tool reserved for big-budget producers. It’s here, and it’s accessible to you, the independent musician, producer, or bedroom artist.

But how exactly do you create music with AI? What tools are out there? Is it cheating? Is it legal? And most importantly, how can you use it effectively without losing your own voice as an artist? This guide walks you through everything you need to know about creating music with AI, from how it works to which tools to try, and how to keep your creative integrity intact along the way.

What Does Creating Music with AI Actually Mean?

Let’s start with the basics: AI-generated music isn’t about pressing a button and letting a robot replace your talent. It’s about using smart algorithms to enhance your creativity, help you ideate faster, and fill in gaps where you might need inspiration or assistance.

AI can now help with:

• Generating instrumental tracks or beats
• Writing melodies, chord progressions, or harmonies
• Creating synthetic vocals or vocal harmonies
• Writing lyrics based on themes or songwriting prompts
• Mastering and mixing tracks
• Remixing existing songs
• Analyzing musical patterns to suggest ideas or improvements

Some tools act like creative collaborators, while others are more like behind-the-scenes assistants that handle repetitive tasks. Let’s put it this way: AI is best thought of as a co-pilot, not a replacement. 

Why Use AI in Your Music Creation Process?

Especially as an independent artist, AI can offer several benefits:

• Speed and Efficiency

Want to draft lyrics quickly without waiting for inspiration? AI helps cut down on creative lag time so you can move faster from idea to execution.

• Idea Generation

Stuck in a rut? AI tools can spark new directions or suggest unexpected musical elements you might not have considered.

• Low-Cost Production

Some AI platforms offer royalty-free stems, vocals, and instrumentals, making it easier for budget-conscious artists to produce high-quality music without hiring expensive collaborators.

• Learning and Growth

By analyzing how AI structures music, you can reverse-engineer ideas to improve your own understanding of composition, arrangement, or mixing.

• Accessibility

Don’t read music? No problem. AI tools often require zero formal training—they’re built for all skill levels.

How to Get Started

Let’s walk through the actual process of creating a track using AI. Keep in mind that you can jump in at any part of the process depending on your needs.

Step 1: Choose the Right AI Tools

First, figure out what you want AI to help you with. Here are some popular tools, organized by function:

AI for Beat & Instrumental Generation

• Soundful – Great for generating royalty-free instrumentals in multiple genres.
• Boomy – Helps create and release AI-generated tracks in minutes.
• AIVA – Focused on composing cinematic or emotional instrumental music.

AI for Lyrics and Songwriting

• These Lyrics Do Not Exist – Auto-generates lyrics based on genre and theme.
• ChatGPT – This LLM can also generate lyrics, suggest rhymes, ideas, and more.
• LALAL.AI Lyrics Assistant – Offers AI-generated lyrics and melody ideas.

AI for Vocals

• Voicemod / Synthesizer V – Create AI vocals or manipulate your own with AI effects.
• Amper Music – Offers synthetic vocal stems and arrangement tools.

AI for Mixing and Mastering

• LANDR – Provides an automated mastering service that fine-tunes your mix with AI.
• iZotope Neutron & Ozone – AI-powered plugins that help with EQ, compression, and mastering.

Start by selecting one or two tools based on where you want help in your process.

Step 2: Generate a Musical Foundation

If you're starting from scratch, try generating a beat or chord progression using something like Soundful or Boomy. These platforms allow you to choose a genre (hip hop, trap, EDM, lo-fi, pop, etc.), tempo, and mood. The AI will then create a full instrumental track or suggest loops you can build on.

Pro Tip: Don’t settle for the first version the AI gives you. Most platforms let you regenerate variations or customize layers. Treat it like working with a human producer; iterate until it clicks.

Step 3: Write or Generate Lyrics

Once you’ve got your instrumental, you can start building your topline. If you're stuck on what to say, AI lyric generators can be a great starting point.

Let’s say you want a love song with a melancholy vibe. A tool like These Lyrics Do Not Exist or ChatGPT can generate draft verses, choruses, or even entire song structures for you. Of course, you should always edit, rewrite, and personalize any AI-generated lyrics. Use them as inspiration, not as finished product.

Step 4: Add Vocals or Melodic Elements

If you're a vocalist, now's your time to shine. But if you're not—or you’re looking to experiment—AI can help here, too.

Tools like Synthesizer V let you create AI-generated vocal tracks using synthetic voices. You can even input your lyrics and have the AI ‘sing’ them in a specific vocal style. Or, if you want to create harmonies, AI tools like iZotope Nectar or Antares Harmony Engine can automatically generate them based on your vocal lines.

Step 5: Arrange, Mix, and Master

Once you have your elements, it’s time to build your final track. AI-powered plugins can simplify this step significantly:

• Ozone can analyze your mix and automatically apply mastering chains tailored to your genre.
• Neutron offers AI mixing assistance that suggests EQ moves, compression settings, and stereo width adjustments.
• LANDR is perfect for quick mastering—just upload your track, select your style, and let the algorithm do its thing.

Again, treat AI suggestions as a starting point. You can always tweak settings manually if you’re going for a particular sound.

Step 6: Release It!

Some platforms like Boomy even allow you to distribute your AI-assisted tracks to DSPs like Spotify, Apple Music, and TIDAL. Others let you download stems or full mixes to upload via your usual distributor.

But Is It Legal? What About Copyright?

Ah, therein lies the question, as they say. This is one of the biggest concerns artists using AI have—and it’s a fair one.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Most platforms give you full commercial rights to the music you create using their AI tools. Always read the fine print before uploading or monetizing your track.
  
  
• If you’re using a tool that pulls from existing music (like AI sampling or remixing), make sure you’re not infringing on copyrighted content.
  
  
• U.S. copyright law does not allow AI-generated content to be copyrighted unless there is a human creative input. So if you just click ‘generate’ and upload, you may not own the music in a legal sense.

Best Practice: Always customize AI-generated music to include your human touch, whether it’s lyrics, vocal performance, production choices, or arrangement edits.

Will AI Replace Musicians?

Another valid concern for most people working in creative fields nowadays. The answer is a definite nope, AI will not replace musicians. Not the good ones, anyway. AI can generate ideas, help you write faster, and automate parts of the process, but it can’t replicate the emotion, intuition, and storytelling that real artists bring to the table. In fact, AI is most powerful when it works with human creativity, not instead of it. So, don’t be afraid of AI. Learn how to use it, bend it to your will, make it part of your process, use it as just another helpful tool in your arsenal. 

Just remember:

• Use it ethically.
• Use it intentionally.
• And always make sure your fingerprint is on the final track.

The future of music isn’t AI-generated. It’s ‘AI-collaborated,’ if you ask us.