Google refreshed its experimental tools for composers and producers.
What’s new: Google announced updates of two music-generation apps and the models they're based on. Music AI Sandbox, an app that generates and modifies music according to text prompts, now accepts lyrics to generate songs as well as instrumental music. You can join a waitlist here. MusicFX DJ generates a continuous stream of music that users can modify as it plays. Try it out here.
How it works: The apps generate 48kHz audio suitable for professional productions. Users can specify key, tempo in beats per minute, instrumentation, style, mood, and other details.
- Music AI Sandbox is based on the updated Lyria 2 music generator. It lets users generate new clips, roughly 30 seconds long, according to prompts. Users can enter lyrics, extend existing clips, and rearrange segments with generated transitions, introductions, and endings.
- MusicFX DJ, which is based on a different model called Lyria RealTime, lets users control streaming music via prompts and other settings. Users can change or combine genres, add or subtract instruments, change key, and speed up or slow down without interrupting the stream.
Behind the news: Google launched Lyria 1 and Music AI Sandbox in 2023 as part of an experiment with YouTube, which made them available to composers, producers, and musicians. Since then, the company has developed them with help from music stars including Jacob Collier, Donald “Childish Gambino” Glover, and Wyclef Jean. Lyria 1 recently became available via the Vertex API to developers who are preapproved by Google.
Why it matters: While music generators like Suno and Udio appeal to casual musicians, Music AI Sandbox, with its digital audio workstation-style user interface, aims to address the needs of professionals. This approach puts AI directly into the hands of talented, experienced artists, similar to the way Adobe has empowered videographers and Runway has partnered with movie producers.
We’re thinking: API access to Lyria 2 would be music to our ears!