4 Free AI Song & Music Makers: Tested

You know what? That checks out.

Polka is way down on my list of favorite music genres, but the circus-y carny vibe works, along with the ambient downpour and thunder sounds. Some might say it’s too on the nose, but you can’t fault its instruction following on this one.

Sonauto:

This one’s a tad too experimental for my liking.

Spoken word routine laid over an alt-rock-country fusion track? I dunno, man. I ain’t feeling it. Also, not the most coherent or inspiring lyrics. But it is vaguely about carnivals and thunderstorms, so there’s that.

Suno:

Listen to Suno V5

I dig this track a lot. Kind of makes me want to upgrade just to hear the rest.

It is about a thunderstorm at a carnival, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that it’s bangin’.

Udio:

Udio.

Buddy.

You’re doing it again.

Exactly like before, you’re being all contrarian just to stand out.

I mean, this is technically about thunderstorms, but what part of this is carnival-adjacent? Certainly not the lyrics or the music genre.

Verdict

I’m torn between Producer’s hyper-instruction-following and Suno’s banger.

And because there’s nobody here to stop me, I’ll go ahead and just split the win between them.

Winners: Producer (best prompt adherence), Suno (best track)

2. “Upbeat Funk” (precise instructions)

Now let’s see what happens when we throw a couple of specific instruments and genres at our models, even if those don’t typically go together:

An upbeat funk track with a female vocalist, synth bassline, handclaps, and a prominent accordion

Here’s what our models cooked up:

Producer:

Prompt adherence: 100% (it even squeezed in the hand claps in the outro).

Vibe: Okay-ish.

Lyrics are more like disjointed snippets, and some of them are sung awkwardly.

Sonauto:

I had to laugh at the literally whispered “Accordion riff” and “Handclaps.”

Nice try, Sonauto, but you can’t replace an instrument with spoken references to it.

That’s not how this works.

Other than that, the funky beat is neat, even if the lyrics are again semi-coherent snippets. I’m starting to see a pattern here, Sonauto.

Suno:

Listen to Suno V4.5

Damn. Another banger.

So much so that I’m almost willing to forgive the lack of audible handclaps and off-the-wall lyrics like “Two hands talking like they’re spilling the tea.”

Udio:

Not too bad, Udio. See? I knew you had it in you.

Strong Jamiroquai vibes here.

But no accordion or handclaps.

And the entire track is kind of flat and unvaried.

Verdict

I’m honestly tempted to go for the same two-way split here again between Producer and Suno. But since this specific test was all about prompt adherence, Producer is the only fair winner.

Winner: Producer

3. “Parking Ticket Supervillain” (song from lyrics)

I’m quite excited for this one. Same lyrics. Different models.

How will each of them handle the constraints?

The genre prompt was simply:

Dramatic rock ballad. Male vocalist.

The lyrics, courtesy of ChatGPT:

[Verse 1]
Parked outside, quick run inside
Meter said I still had time
Ran back out—receipt in hand
Yellow ticket on the glass
Thirty bucks. Time: 9:08
My phone said 9:07
I knocked on glass—you drove away
Didn’t hear a word I’d say
[Pre-Chorus]
Called the office, pled my case
“Just pay the fine,” they said to my face
[Chorus]
It’s just a ticket, so they say
“Pay the fine and walk away”
But something snapped inside my head
You should’ve checked the time instead
Just a fine? Just thirty bucks?
Now the whole damn city’s stuck
One small slip on my windshield blade
That’s how a supervillain’s made
[Verse 2]
Judge looked down, barely awake
“Says 9:08. Case closed. Next case.”
Walked outside in pouring rain
Thirty dollars, burning brain
That’s when I made my simple vow:
You will notice me now
[Bridge]
Meters flashing citywide
Parking apps all crash and die
Gates are open, alarms scream
Every screen shows ME
[Chorus]
It’s just a ticket, so they say
“Pay the fine and walk away”
Now the meters all obey
Nobody pays today
Just a fine? Just thirty bucks?
Look around—the system’s stuck
One small slip on my windshield blade
That’s how a supervillain’s made
[Outro]
Next time you write a ticket fast
Make sure the minute’s really passed.

Let’s hear ’em!

Producer:

Welp, it’s a rock ballad with a male vocalist, and that’s not nothing.

Unfortunately, I feel the delivery is often awkward and mistimed, and the whole thing is kind of…meh?

Sonauto:

While I like the tune better than Producer’s, it’s not quite a ballad now, is it?

Also, why swallow the “oh” sound in “9:07” and “9:08” Sonauto? What do you have against zeros? And then there’s some weirdness with instrumental timing and pre-chorus / chorus transitions.

Suno:

Listen to Suno V4.5

This is a rock ballad.

I might not particularly like the melody, but the build-up is effectively delivered, including the dramatically escalating bridge section. Also, we don’t have the same awkwardness with spoken timing or mispronounced words.

Udio:

This is more pop-punk than a rock ballad.

It’s also quite flat.

I like Blink-182 as much as the next guy (assuming the next guy likes Blink-182), but this wasn’t quite what we were going for.

You don’t have to be different to be cool, Udio.

Verdict

I’m handing this one to Suno for the effectively delivered supervillain origin story arc and the rock ballad prompt adherence.

Winner: Suno

4. “Punk Lullaby” (tonal shifts)

Finally, let’s see if our contestants can switch gears mid-song and do so without losing the red thread. Here’s what I gave them:

A song that starts as a slow, dreamy lullaby, explodes into a fast, aggressive punk in the middle, and ends with a peaceful piano outro

And here’s what they created:

Producer:

On paper, we have perfect prompt adherence again.

One might argue the punk section wasn’t particularly “aggressive,” but it was punk nonetheless. The piano outro section is also there, but it feels more like a tacked-on, separate fragment than part of the song.

Sonauto:

Listen to Suno V5 (snippet)

What the actual fuck, Sonauto?

Where did you find that “lullaby” opening? The pits of Hell?

If I ever played that to my kids at night, my entire family would need years of therapy.

And what’s with your fetish for disconnected lyrical snippets and unfinished half-thoughts? Are you afraid to string a full sentence together for once?

Suno:

Listen to Suno V4.5

Okay, we gotta talk about Suno, folks.

Forget the fake-pretend-live-concert audience cheering and the fact that it’s more pure rock than punk. And yet…

Maybe it’s just me, but there’s something about Suno’s ability to string tracks together that feels…I don’t want to say “human”…but at least believable. Something with a storyline and a hint of a deeper message between the lines.

I know, I know.

It’s an uncaring algorithm that’s simply matching and recombining patterns it learned by eating insane amounts of training data acquired in an ethically questionable way.

But listen to the first and only freely playable minute of the V5 version and tell me it didn’t do anything for you:

You can even hear hints of the punk section starting up in the final notes, so it might’ve just nailed the prompt adherence on that one, too.

Udio: