Another day, and another AI music maker hits the market. However LoudMe is more than just a simple music generator, it comes with some interesting extra features that you don't typically find in this type of service. And the whole package is free...for now.
The new AI music maker follows on from market leaders Suno and Udio to provide track generation from a text prompt. But it’s clearly aimed at a less sophisticated audience who don't mind receiving low audio quality, with almost no editing allowed. It does however deliver full two to three-minute tracks from each prompt, which is great for users on a deadline.
While there is an Extend button, it does nothing except produce another two tracks, in most cases shorter than the original. Not really an extension then, more like a ‘try again’ button. The second no-frills feature is the fact that the Download button brutally compresses the original audio to a muddy low-fi MP3 file which is tiny (around 3MB) and almost unusable without post-processing. Fine for some background pop sounds in an elevator, maybe?
The tracks are all offered with no copyright restrictions, and there’s an option to use your own lyrics as the core of the song. Unfortunately, using the platform to craft some AI generated lyrics is again a little disappointing, since the app only outputs a single verse / chorus combo, which is repeated over the length of the track. Cheap and cheerful is probably a good description, or rather free and cheerful.
Check it out if you’re not fussy about results, and just want a quick sound effect or some project music on the fly. But don’t say I didn’t warn you!
The other parts of the app are more interesting. For one thing there’s a free sound effects generator, which delivers a selection of sounds from your text prompt. The results depend a lot on your request. Make it too generic and risk receiving something which almost, but not quite, resembles what you asked for. My request for a sports car sound was not great, but the sound of a dog barking in the evening was spot on. Trial and error I guess. Again, not bad for free.
Finally, there’s an unusual option to search the platform for royalty free sounds or music to download. The catalog seems to be quite restricted at the moment, probably because it’s relying on user generated content. Sadly the genre selection for the music searches is woefully off-base most of the time. Search for ‘acid jazz’, for instance, and you’ll receive a completely random selection of tracks ranging from chill vibes to upbeat pop. Yeah, thanks but no thanks.
So overall verdict? Well it’s clearly early days, so we have to make allowances. But there’s no getting away from the fact that the service feels like something that was cobbled together over a weekend by some college students using ChatGPT and a Suno API. The lack of track editing, the dismal non-working track extend function, and things like the pathetic genre search don’t inspire a huge amount of confidence. But did I mention it’s free to use?
Check it out if you’re not fussy about results, and just want a quick sound effect or some project music on the fly. But don’t say I didn’t warn you!
