Voice AI startup ElevenLabs is offering an early glimpse at a groundbreaking new model that can generate entire songs from a simple text prompt. And based on the initial previews circulating on social media, this technology could be poised to make some serious noise in the music industry.
Everything you need to know:
✓ ElevenLabs’ AI can make super realistic music just from simple text instructions
✓ It sounds way better than other AI music makers out there right now
✓ This could seriously change the music industry, but it also raises some big questions.
Elevenlabs releases first songs from new AI music generator
Founded by ex-Google and Palantir employees, ElevenLabs has already made a name for itself in AI voice cloning and synthesis across various languages. But now, the company is setting its sights on an even more ambitious target: using machine learning to create original music.
Head of Design at ElevenLabs, Ammaar Reshi, recently posted a track on Twitter titled “It started to sing” that was apparently generated by the AI model. And the results are stunning. The vocals are crystal clear and expertly mixed, surpassing what competitors like Suno are currently capable of. The instrumentation is nuanced and organic, with guitar parts that sound remarkably human. If this preview indeed came straight out of the AI without any tweaks, it represents a huge leap forward.
How does Elevenlab’s AI music generator really perform?
Reshi followed up with another AI-composed track, “Carbonara on the mic,” based on a colleague’s zany prompt for “90s hip hop rap that gives the instructions to making spaghetti carbonara.” Once again, the output is mind-blowing if it truly originated from the model as is.
For Ezra, Founder of Audiocipher, the vocals are too clean here. They should be more gritty and soulful.
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The potential applications for this technology are endless. Imagine generating custom lullabies, catchy jingles, or podcast intros on demand. And what’s to stop someone from using ElevenLabs’ AI to churn out the next chart-topping hit? A growing crop of AI music startups like Harmonai, Lyrical Labs, Suno AI, and Loudly are already exploring this space.
Elevenlabs has a marketplace for AI voice cloning
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ElevenLabs even launched a Voice Library marketplace in January where users can sell their AI-cloned voices while retaining control over availability and compensation. It’s not hard to envision a similar model for AI-generated songs in the near future.
However, not everyone is thrilled about the rise of AI music. As with all generative AI, there are looming questions about the training data used by ElevenLabs. Were copyrighted materials included without permission from the rights holders? Fair use in machine learning is still a legal gray area.
Some fear that this technology could put human artists out of work, as AI learns to mimic their signature styles with eerie accuracy. Need a Christmas album but the band isn’t on board? No problem, just feed their catalog to the AI. The specter of musical deepfakes is also concerning.
Elevenlab’s AI music generator: When will it release?
At this stage, details are still scarce about the full capabilities of ElevenLabs’ music model, such as the maximum length of songs it can generate. VentureBeat has reached out to the company for more information, so stay tuned for updates.
Despite the unanswered questions and potential pitfalls, it’s hard not to be excited about the creative possibilities this technology unlocks. A world where anyone can conjure up studio-quality songs with a simple text prompt was the stuff of science fiction not long ago. Now, thanks to startups like ElevenLabs, that future could be right around the corner.
But as AI-generated music moves from novel gimmick to mainstream phenomenon, the industry will need to grapple with some thorny ethical and legal challenges. Balancing innovation with the livelihoods of human artists won’t be easy. One thing is certain, though – the way we create and consume music is on the brink of a major disruption. And ElevenLabs might just be the company to strike the first chord of the AI music revolution.
