Suno AI: What is this musical AI, and how does it work?

While ChatGPT and other AI systems, such as Gemini, continue to be improved and develop partnerships with web giants such as Reddit, we sometimes forget that there are other artificial intelligence systems specialising in different areas. In addition to text and images, some AI systems can even create music! One of these is Suno. How does it work? What can it do? Let's take a closer look.

La homepage de Suno AI.

In short

• Suno AI allows you to compose original music with or without lyrics, based on a simple prompt in English.

• Its simple interface is inspired by other AI programs (ChatGPT, Copilot, etc.) and makes music creation accessible in just a few clicks.

• The "Explore" page encourages experimentation, mixing unlikely genres to produce unique sounds.

• The technical limit on song length can be circumvented using the "extend" function, which allows you to create long songs.

• The tool is free with daily credits, but paid subscriptions unlock monetization and professional use.

Suno AI: what is it and how does it work?

Suno AI is an artificial intelligence that allows you to create music with or without lyrics via a web browser. The AI is therefore available on the web, from your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

In practical terms, AI works via a "prompt," which is a statement that you type on your keyboard, just like with ChatGPT or Gemini. This prompt will contain your music request, for example, "A song with heavy guitar and violin." Please note that AI currently only works in English.

Want to learn more about ChatGPT or Gemini? Here we explain what ChatGPT is and how to use it, and here we explain what Gemini is and how to use it. And if you want to know how AI works, we explain what artificial intelligence is in our dedicated article!

Introduction to the Suno AI interface

Suno has a simple layout that is quite similar to other AI platforms. If you have already used ChatGPT, Copilot, or other artificial intelligence platforms, you will feel right at home. The main menu is located on the left. At the top of this menu, you will find Suno's main pages, such as the homepage, the "create" page for creating and managing your sounds, and the "explore" page for discovering new mixes. At the bottom of this same menu on the left, you will find the main pages for learning about the site, such as the latest updates, FAQ, and help page. You will also see your number of credits for creating music. Finally, you will also find your profile icon. Click on it to access all the useful links for managing your Suno AI account.

The Suno AI homepage showcases the latest news and trends from the community.

At the heart of the website is the home page, where you can discover the latest music created by the community: trending charts, playlists, top categories, and more.

When you click on a song to listen to it, a third area appears, this time on the right. This area displays the lyrics and the song's logo, along with useful information and options such as the creation date, author, like and dislike buttons, share buttons, etc.

The "Explore" page, one of Suno AI's strengths

One of the key features of this artificial intelligence is the "Explore" page. In this section, you can listen to music created by blending various musical genres. Alt-country choir, Afro-Cuban jazz, Portuguese 16-bit, koto drill and bass... all musical genres and styles are mixed together to create unique and sometimes highly original music.

This allows the community to test an infinite number of combinations and transform AI into an incubator for experimental and original music. This is the strength of artificial intelligence in the field of music: combining different musical genres that appear to have nothing in common in order to try to achieve a result (more or less convincing).

The "Explore" page on Suno AI lets you discover highly original musical styles.

How to create music with Suno AI?

Create simple music

Now that you are familiar with the Suno interface, let's see how to actually create music. To do this, go to the "create" section available in the left menu at the top. Once there, a new window will appear on the left. This is where you will create your music. It consists of the "custom mode" button. This button allows you to create music either by simply entering a description if it is not checked, or by creating the lyrics, style, and title of the music if it is checked. Below this button, you will see the chat window where you can write the description of your song. There is also an "instrumental" mode, which, if checked, will create instrumental music without lyrics. You can therefore choose between generating a sound with or without lyrics. You will then find the "create" button to start generating the music.

The Suno AI creation interface, which allows you to generate your own music.

Let's take a few concrete examples: you want to create your own song with lyrics you've already written. All you have to do is enter them in the chat window. Then choose the style of music you want to write in the "style of music" window. You can write actual styles such as rap, rock, or hip-hop, as well as specific details such as "female voice" or "happy song" to help Suno better understand your request. In the "title" box, enter a title for the music and click "create." In about a minute, Suno will create your music. The AI will create two sounds so you can choose the most suitable version.

Would you rather create instrumental music? Uncheck the "custom mode" box to return to the simplified menu, then check the "instrumental" box and simply enter your request. Want epic fantasy novel music? Type something like "an epic fantasy song" and add more information such as "an epic fantasy song for dwarf people" or "an epic fantasy song for a war between gods and men."

How do I create music that is longer than one minute?

UPDATE: This section only applies to versions prior to 3.5. Version 3.5 of Suno allows you to create sounds of up to 4 minutes in length in a single session.

You may have noticed this if you've tried to create music in custom mode, but Suno can't create a sound longer than about a minute, even if you've entered the lyrics. The AI simply stops in the middle of the text.

It is possible to get around this technical limitation. To do so, you need to divide (or split) your music into several parts. Let's take a concrete example: you have written the lyrics for a song that consists of seven verses, including the chorus. First, still in custom mode, copy and paste the first three verses and generate some music. This will be the first part of your song.

Once you have found the ideal first part, click on the three dots to the right of the music to display the options, then click on "extend." In the music creation menu on the left, you will see a clock at the bottom of the menu that says "extend from." This means that Suno will continue the music from the indicated time. Enter the ideal moment where you want the AI to continue your sound, for example, in a dip if there is one. Once you have indicated the time, delete the lyrics and copy and paste the following verses. Then click "create" again. If you need to make a third party, repeat this process with the newly created music. The latter will have a small "part 2" icon next to its title to indicate that it is the continuation of another sound. I personally recommend not putting more than 4 verses per part, and only 3 for optimal results.

Once you have created all your parts, go to the options for the last one and click on "get whole song." Suno will then merge all the parts to give you the entire song.

Are you curious about what AI can create? We invite you to listen to our creations on our 100% AI music page. You can discover our electronic creations in the album Cybernetic Chronicles or our rock tracks in the album Twisted World.

Is Suno AI free?

Suno AI is available free of charge. However, each song creation costs 10 credits, and you get 50 per day. But you can't accumulate them, as the limit is also 50 credits maximum. There is also a subscription option for €8 per month. This allows you to use the music created for commercial purposes, faster generation, and 2,500 credits. Another subscription option is available for €24 per month. This gives you 10,000 credits per month, enough to create 2,000 sounds!

Suno AI VS ChatGPT: what are the differences between the two AIs?

Suno AI is not at all the same as ChatGPT. OpenAI's artificial intelligence is a general language model. It can respond to you in text form and generate images with its integrated DALL-E AI for people with a paid subscription.

Suno AI is an AI that is not capable of generating text. Only music (as well as an image that accompanies said music).

FAQ

1. Can Suno really replace a musician or composer?

Not entirely: it generates impressive sounds, but human emotion and subtlety remain difficult to reproduce. Suno is more of a tool for rapid creation or musical experimentation.

2. Do the tracks created really belong to the user?

In the free version, your rights of use remain limited. Only a paid subscription allows you to commercially exploit your music without legal issues.

3. Is English a barrier to using Suno?

No, because the prompts requested are simple (style, mood, instruments). A few keywords are enough to guide the AI, even if you are not comfortable with the language.

4. Is Suno more interesting for amateurs or professionals?

Both profiles will find it useful: amateurs can discover music composition, while professionals can quickly generate demos, jingles, or soundtracks.

5. Is Suno likely to transform the music industry?

Yes, because it democratizes creation. Anyone can produce a song in a matter of minutes, which could revolutionize the production of royalty-free music, commercials, and even certain mainstream genres.