Microsoft’s AI chatbot Copilot has teamed up with the generative AI music app Suno to allow users to make music without a music background but a simple text prompt.
Suno, the Cambridge-based AI music startup, has a tool on Discord that allows users to compose original songs with lyrics based on a text prompt. Through the collaboration, Copilot users can now access the tool using the AI chatbot.
Composing a song
According to reports, the collaboration means Copilot users will have “at their fingertips the ability, regardless of musical background, to create personalized songs with a simple prompt.”
A prompt like “Create a pop song about adventures with family” will make Suno transform the idea into a complete song with lyrics.
Apart from lyrics, the song will be complete with instrumentals and voice singing, according to Microsoft. Suno will also create a song of about one to two minutes in length.
However, Suno has claimed that not all prompts are permissible, as it blocks some. For example, it claims its models do not recognize artists’ names. Additionally, the platform also says it does not allow users to upload the lyrics to existing songs to generate covers.
Another notable characteristic is that the Suno plug-in only generates one song per search result, according to Microsoft senior communications manager Donny Turnbaugh.
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Getting the Suno plugin
Copilot users can access the plugin by visiting the Copilot website, logging into their Microsoft accounts, and enabling the Suno plug-in. Another option is going straight to the Suno logo labeled “Make music with Suno.”
“Through this partnership, people will have at their fingertips the ability, regardless of musical background, to create fun, clever, and personalized songs with a simple prompt,” said Microsoft.
“We believe that this partnership will open new horizons for creativity and fun, making music creation accessible to everyone.”
Suno retains the rights to music created by free users on its platform, as it does not allow them to monetize the music on platforms like YouTube or Spotify. However, according to The Verge, the music-generating firm grants commercial rights to paid subscribers.
Growing trend
The latest collaboration between Microsoft’s Copilot and Suno adds to the growing trend of big tech firms joining hands with startups to boost generative AI technology, ranging from image generation to music creation.
Other examples include Google’s DeepMind, which collaborated with YouTube to introduce Lyria, a generative AI model for music, and Dream Track, a limited-access tool for AI songs.
Another example is Meta, which has exhibited its experiments with AI music generation. The social media giant launched its own text-to-music AI generator, known as MusicGen, which the company said had 20,000 hours of licensed music.
Ethical concerns
Microsoft oversees Muzik, a broad research initiative that is dedicated to AI music, which was established in 2019.
Its main mandate is to explore AI-powered developments in various aspects of music. This encompasses lyric creation, text-to-music generation, lyric-to-melody generation, and songwriting.
Microsoft has described its Muzic as a “project on AI music that empowers music understanding and generation with deep learning and artificial intelligence.”
However, despite the progress made and enthusiasm for AI music, there are ethical and legal concerns not to be overlooked.
Some artists are not comfortable with AI algorithms “learning from existing music, especially when consent and compensation are lacking.”
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