---
title: "Google’s Powerful New AI Can Turn Text Into Music"
description: "Google researchers have shown off the latest tricks they've taught MusicLM, their AI model that can turn simple text prompts into music."
date: "2023-01-31"
modified: "2023-01-31"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/google-new-ai-text-music"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
  - "Google"
tags:
  - "artificial intelligence"
  - "music"
  - "the digest"
---

# Google’s Powerful New AI Can Turn Text Into Music

![Google researchers have shown off the latest tricks they've taught MusicLM, their AI model that can turn simple text prompts into music.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/google-new-ai-text-music.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Getty Images\</em\>*

## AI Music

Google researchers just showed off the latest tricks they've taught MusicLM, their artificial intelligence model that can turn simple text prompts into fully-fledged music.

And, judging by the samples [they've shared so far](<https://google-research.github.io/seanet/musiclm/examples/>), which range from 30 seconds to entire five-minute tracks, it's pretty impressive — but not perfect, especially when it comes to non-electronic genres and the simulation of human vocals.

One particularly [smooth-sounding track](<https://google-research.github.io/seanet/musiclm/examples/audio_samples/long_generation/melodic-techno.wav>) imagines the "main soundtrack of an arcade game," while [another](<https://google-research.github.io/seanet/musiclm/examples/audio_samples/long_generation/swing.wav>) interprets "swing" music in an eerie and almost terrifyingly robotic way that might have Duke Ellington turning in his grave.

## Humming and Whistling

It may not be the first music-generating tool out there — it's [not even the first time](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-music-text-prompts>) we've come across MusicLM — but this latest iteration has some new and powerful tricks up its sleeve.

As detailed in a [yet-t0-be-peer-reviewed paper](<https://arxiv.org/pdf/2301.11325.pdf>) shared by the researchers, this version of MusicLM "can be conditioned on both text and a melody in that it can transform whistled and hummed melodies according to the style described in a text caption."

The results are impressive, as evidenced by the samples provided: a small ten-second hummed or whistled melody is easily transformed into an entire a cappella performance, guitar solo, or string quartet rendition. The AI can even turn a finger-strummed guitar sample into a sultry jazz saxophone passage.

It's an iterative improvement over previous efforts, the researchers argue.

"Our experiments show that MusicLM outperforms previous systems both in audio quality and adherence to the text description," the paper reads, comparing their tool to other competing efforts like Mubert, a music-generating AI.

But before you ask: no, the researchers won't be releasing the tool to the public — for one important reason: the potential for copyright infringement or "potential misappropriation of creative content," something the music industry is already [paying close attention to](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/riaa-ai-music-generators>).

**READ MORE:** [Google’s new AI turns text into music](<https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/28/23574573/google-musiclm-text-to-music-ai>) \[*The Verge*\]

**More on AI music:** *[Record Labels Terrified by Rise of AI Music Generators](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/riaa-ai-music-generators>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)