ElevenLabs launches Music v2 with mid-track genre transitions and section-by-section composition

ElevenLabs launched Music v2 on May 26, 2026. The new model handles mid-track genre transitions, embeds non-musical sound effects and voiceovers inside tracks, and builds full songs section by section instead of short clips. It powers three platforms at launch: ElevenMusic for creators, ElevenAPI for developers, and ElevenCreative for brands.

What is new in Music v2

Music v2 upgrades vocals, instrumentation, and arrangement across every genre. A single track can move from opera to heavy metal and back, sustain fast rap and dense lyrical delivery, and embed sound effects directly inside the song without breaking musical coherence.

Composition is the bigger shift. Music v2 builds full songs section by section, intro to verse to chorus to bridge, with structural continuity maintained throughout. Improved inpainting lets you select any part of a track and regenerate it without touching the rest. Multilingual generation also runs more reliably in the language you write in.

Three platforms now run on Music v2

Each surface targets a different use case. ElevenMusic is the studio for musicians and creators, with prompt-based generation, remixing, and a public artist profile flow capable of publishing a track in under 60 seconds. ElevenAPI gives developers programmatic access to generate, inpaint, and reference-match inside their own products. ElevenCreative handles licensed music at scale for ads, branded content, and video, briefed by sonic mood, genre, tempo, and brand voice rather than a text prompt alone.

Pricing dropped alongside the launch. ElevenLabs cut self-serve Music pricing by up to 50% on ElevenAPI and up to 40% on ElevenCreative, applied across both v1 and v2. Music v2 is live on ElevenMusic and ElevenCreative now, with ElevenAPI access coming soon.

Licensed data is the structural play

Music v2 is trained only on licensed data and cleared for commercial use. No sync fees, no clearance delays. The release names a recent licensing collaboration with Believe as part of wider alignment across the music industry around rights-respecting AI development. It also lands one week after Splice’s deal to embed ElevenLabs’ foundational music models inside its Variations, Craft, and Magic Fit tools.

The positioning is the structural counter to ongoing Suno and Udio litigation. Licensed training data has been the line ElevenLabs held since its $500M Series D in February and the marketplace built on Kobalt and Merlin catalogs. Music v2 is the model upgrade underneath the bet.