Make music with AI, and use it safely.

An AI music generator turns a short description, and optionally your own lyrics, into a finished track with vocals and instruments. The main options in 2026 are Suno, Google’s Lyria 3.5 and ElevenLabs’ Eleven Music. Making a decent song is now the easy part.

The hard part is what you may do with it. That depends on the service, and on the plan you were on when you made the track. This guide covers the main tools, how to prompt them, what each one’s terms allow as of September 2026, and how streaming services treat AI music.

01The main AI music generators in 2026

Four services cover most of what people use today. Each has a different relationship with the music industry, and that shapes what you can do with the output.

02How to prompt an AI music generator

Brief the tool the way a producer briefs a band: genre and era, mood, tempo, three or four instruments, the vocal sound, and how the song should build. Google’s own tips for Lyria follow the same pattern.

Warm 1970s soul ballad at about 72 BPM. Rhodes electric piano, brushed drums, upright bass and soft strings. Intimate female alto vocal, close to the microphone, with a little rasp. Quiet, sparse verses that build to a big final chorus with backing harmonies.

Instrumental only. Upbeat lo-fi hip hop for a 60-second product video, around 90 BPM. Dusty drum loop, mellow electric piano, warm bass, light vinyl crackle. Steady energy with no sudden drops, so a voice-over stays easy to hear.

If you write your own lyrics, label the sections so the tool knows where the chorus goes:

[Verse]
Flour on the counter, lights still low
The whole street's sleeping, but the ovens glow
[Chorus]
Come in early, come in cold
Leave with something warm to hold
[Outro]
Leave with something warm to hold

Describe a sound instead of naming an artist. “Breathy 1990s trip-hop vocal over a slow, dusty groove” gets you further than a band’s name, and it keeps you clear of the impersonation rules covered below.

03Stems and editing: how to finish a track

A first generation is a draft. The difference between a demo and a finished track is usually editing:

1. 01

   Generate several takes

   Run the same prompt three or four times. Melodies and vocal takes vary a lot between runs.

2. 02

   Fix the weak section, not the whole song

   If your tool can regenerate or extend one section, repair the bridge instead of starting over. Google’s Lyria API cannot refine a clip across follow-up prompts, so with it, editing happens after export.

3. 03

   Split it into stems

   On paid plans, Suno regenerates each stem with its latest model instead of cutting the mix apart, which Suno says keeps parts clean. Eleven Music offers stems through its API on paid plans.

4. 04

   Add a human layer

   Record your own vocal or an instrument, rewrite the lyrics, or rearrange the parts. It makes the track yours, and it is the part copyright can protect.

5. 05

   Mix and master

   Balance the stems in an editor such as GarageBand, Logic, Ableton Live or FL Studio, then master for loudness before release.

For a soundtrack under a clip, see our guides to AI video generators and motion graphics with AI. For spoken narration instead of a song, our guide to AI voice generators covers that, and AI video editing covers dropping the finished track into the cut.

04What can you do commercially with AI music?

Here is what each service’s own terms say as of September 2026. Terms change often, so reread them before you release anything.

Eleven Music defines Studio Games as commercial video games released on more than one platform. Google’s terms are the least specific: they say Google won’t claim ownership, but do not spell out sales or streaming. The API terms also warn that similar output may be generated for others.

Two more details matter. Remixes of other people’s Suno songs are personal use only, even on paid plans. And both Suno and ElevenLabs warn that your output may not be unique: a similar track can be generated for someone else.

05How streaming platforms treat AI music

Most platforms accept AI music, with conditions. The pressure comes from volume: Deezer says AI tracks make up a large share of uploads but very little listening.

By June 2026, Deezer reported that AI tracks passed half of its daily uploads, about 90,000 a day. Here is how the major platforms respond:

• Spotify allows AI music and treats it like any other music. It bans vocal impersonation unless the artist has authorized it, filters spam such as mass uploads and artificially short tracks, and shows AI credits your distributor supplies. From mid-September 2026, artists whose identity is AI-generated get an “AI Persona” badge and, by default, are left out of editorial and algorithmic recommendations unless you follow them.

• Deezer tags fully AI tracks and keeps them out of algorithmic recommendations and editorial playlists. It plans to remove AI tracks with no streams in six months or with fraudulent streams.

• YouTube lets you monetize original work, but not mass-produced or repetitive AI content made from generic templates.

• Bandcamp has banned music made wholly or in substantial part by AI since January 2026, along with AI impersonation of artists or styles.

06Simple rules to stay safe

07FAQ

Next, read who owns AI-generated content, or set your track to pictures with our guide to AI video generators.