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From Silence to Cinema: How AI Composes Movie Soundtracks with MakeBestMusic

Introduction

In the field of short video creation, every blogger and creator harbors the dream of impressing audiences with high-quality content. However, in practice, choosing background music has become a frustrating challenge.

First is the issue of music cost. A suitable original piece of music is often expensive. Commissioning a professional musician to create one can cost thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan. For independent creators or small teams, this is an unaffordable expense that will significantly reduce their creation budget. If they choose to use copyrighted existing music, they still need to pay licensing fees. The fee standards vary based on different usage scenarios, durations, and platforms. The calculation and payment processes are cumbersome, and they may also face copyright disputes due to improper use, adding extra financial risks.

Finding original materials is also far from easy. Among massive music libraries, finding background music that fits the video’s theme, style, and emotional tone is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Most music in these libraries is highly homogeneous, lacking uniqueness and innovation, making it hard for the video to stand out. To make their videos more recognizable and memorable, creators are eager to find unique original materials. But this requires spending a lot of time and energy on screening and auditioning, and they may not even find something satisfactory.

After finally finding seemingly suitable background music, repeated revisions often follow. As the video content is adjusted and the editing rhythm changes, the originally suitable music may no longer fit. Creators have to look for new music or revise the existing one. This repetitive process greatly consumes creators’ time and patience, seriously affects creation efficiency, prolongs the video’s release cycle, and causes them to miss the best communication window.

It is these pain points that make short video creators urgently need a new background music solution. The emergence of AI music generation technology has undoubtedly brought them new hope.

What is AI Music Generation?

(I) Demystifying AI Music Generation

In simple terms, AI music generation is a process that uses advanced algorithms, machine learning, and big data analysis technologies to convert various user-input information into complete musical works. Its core lies in enabling computers to understand the combination rules of musical elements such as structure, harmony, melody, and rhythm through in-depth learning of massive music data, thereby gaining the ability to create music.

Take the common text-driven generation method as an example. When a user enters a description like "a 3-minute song with a cheerful and energetic rhythm and a strong electronic music style" on an AI music generation platform, the AI model behind the platform first conducts semantic analysis on the text and extracts key information such as "cheerful", "energetic", "electronic music style", and "3 minutes". Next, the model searches for matching musical elements and patterns in the large amount of electronic music data it has learned, such as specific rhythm patterns, melody trends, harmony progressions, and synthesizer sounds commonly used in electronic music. Then, based on this information, it uses algorithms to combine and arrange various musical elements to generate a piece of music that meets the requirements. During the generation process, the model also considers the overall structure and logic of the music to ensure it has a coherent flow, with natural and smooth transitions between all parts from the intro, verse, chorus, to the ending.

(II) The Industry is Booming

The AI music generation industry has shown rapid development momentum in recent years. In terms of market size, according to forecasts from relevant research institutions, the global AI music market is expected to grow significantly from $580 million in 2023 to $2.68 billion in 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.3%. This data directly reflects the growing popularity of AI music in the market, as more and more people begin to pay attention to and use AI music generation technology.

In terms of application fields, the scope of AI music generation is also expanding. In the film and television industry, some low-budget movies and online dramas have begun to use AI-generated soundtracks, which not only saves high music production costs but also quickly obtains music that fits the plot's atmosphere. In the game industry, AI music has also been widely applied. Game developers can use AI to generate dynamically changing music based on different game scenes and players' real-time operations, bringing a more immersive gaming experience to players. At the technical level, AI music generation technology is also continuously upgrading. Early AI-generated music works may have problems, such as simple melodies and a lack of emotion. However, with the continuous improvement of deep learning algorithms and the enrichment of training data, the quality and expressiveness of AI-generated music have been significantly improved. It can even specify the timbre of AI singers—a technological breakthrough that brings AI music generation closer to the level of professional music production.

These trends all indicate that the AI music generation industry is in a period of vigorous development and has broad prospects for growth.

MakeBestMusic: Start Your Creation Journey in 3 Steps

(I) Project Setup: Anchor Your Creation Direction

Now, let’s take a fantasy adventure movie as an example to learn in depth how to set up a project in MakeBestMusic. Open the MakeBestMusic platform and enter the creation interface. The first thing you’ll see is the project setup area. Here, we need to set key information for the soundtrack of this fantasy adventure movie.

Lyrics Generator: We input "full of mystery, excitement, and the thrill of exploration". This description helps MakeBestMusic understand the emotional tone we expect for the music. Thus, when generating lyrics, it will incorporate corresponding emotional elements—for example, using dissonant note combinations to create a mysterious atmosphere, fast-paced rhythms to convey excitement, and bright melody segments to show the thrill of exploration.

Text to Song: Next is style selection. Fantasy adventure movies often draw on the grand momentum of classical music, the rich sound effects of electronic music, and the unique melodic elements of ethnic music. We can choose "a fusion of classical and electronic music, integrated with a mysterious ethnic music style". This multi-style setting enables the soundtrack to have both the solemnity and elegance of classical music, the modernity and sense of technology of electronic music, and the unique cultural charm of ethnic music, creating a magical and distinctive musical world for the movie.

Through such detailed and precise project settings, we lay a solid foundation for MakeBestMusic to generate soundtracks that meet the style and scene needs of fantasy adventure movies, giving clear directions for subsequent music creation.

(II) Advanced Editing: Polish Music Details

After completing the initial music generation, MakeBestMusic also provides a wealth of advanced editing options, allowing us to polish the music in greater detail.

MIDI Generator: The Effortless MIDI Creation and Editing. With the AI MIDI Generator, effortlessly create and edit MIDI tracks using the intuitive MIDI editor. Whether you're drawing notes, recording from your favorite MIDI controller, or uploading existing files, the AI MIDI Generator adapts to your workflow, allowing you to produce music with precision and ease.

Voice Remover: Vocal removers use advanced algorithms to analyze and separate audio signals, distinguishing between vocal frequencies and other instrumental sounds. This technology enables the precise extraction of vocals or instrumental parts from a song. The effectiveness of a vocal remover depends on the complexity of the audio and the sophistication of the algorithm.

(III) Download & Licensing: Empower Your Works with Music

Royalty-Free Music Policies and Copyright Terms: We thoroughly review the copyright ownership and usage rules of each tool. When you’re satisfied with your song, you can download it in various formats (e.g., MP3, WAV, MIDI) for use in your projects. You can also export the track for further editing in other music production software if needed.

Whether sharing on social media to attract more audience attention or using it for commercial project promotion, legally licensed music can add brilliance to our works and enhance their quality and appeal.

AI vs. Traditional Soundtrack Production: A Head-to-Head Comparison

(I) Creation Time: A Huge Gap in Efficiency

In the traditional soundtrack production mode, creating a film soundtrack is often a long and complex process. Take the soundtrack of the Hollywood blockbuster The Lord of the Rings series as an example. The famous composer Howard Shore spent several years creating the soundtrack for this series. He needed to study the script in depth, communicate repeatedly with the director, and understand the film’s theme, plot, characters, and emotional tone. Then, every detail—from melody conception and harmony arrangement to instrument selection and performance details—required careful polishing. During the creation process, repeated revisions and improvements may also be needed due to various factors. The entire production cycle can last for several years, involving the collaboration of many musicians and staff.

In contrast, AI music generation technology significantly shortens the creation time. On the MakeBestMusic platform, following the requirements for the fantasy adventure film soundtrack set earlier, it may take only a few minutes to generate initial music after inputting project setup information. If you are not satisfied with the generated music, the time for revisions and adjustments is also relatively short. Usually, a satisfactory version can be completed within half an hour to several hours. This efficient creation speed allows creators to quickly obtain multiple music options in a short time, greatly improving creation efficiency and better meeting the needs of tight film production schedules.

(II) Cost Investment: A Comparison of Financials

The cost of the traditional soundtrack mode mainly includes multiple links such as composition, arrangement, performance, recording, and mixing. Commissioning a well-known composer to create a film soundtrack usually costs hundreds of thousands of dollars or more. For example, Hans Zimmer’s fee for creating soundtracks for some Hollywood blockbusters is as high as millions of dollars. In addition to the composition fee, you also need to pay the performance fee for professional musicians. The performance fee for a large symphony orchestra can be as high as tens of thousands of dollars per performance. Furthermore, recording and mixing require professional studios, equipment, and experienced sound engineers and mixers. The total of these costs is also a considerable expense. For a medium-sized film, the total cost of traditional soundtrack production may range from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.

In comparison, the cost of AI music generation is much lower. Compared with the high cost of the traditional mode, AI music generation greatly lowers the creation threshold, making soundtrack costs affordable for more creators.

(III) Originality: Breakthroughs and Limitations

The originality of the traditional soundtrack mode largely depends on the composer’s personal talent, creativity, and musical literacy. Although excellent composers can create works with strong personality and innovation, they are inevitably limited by their own musical style and experience. Moreover, traditional music creation is bound by music theory and conventional creation methods, making innovation somewhat difficult.

AI music generation has unique advantages in terms of originality. By learning and analyzing massive music data, AI can integrate multiple musical styles and elements to create brand-new music combinations. On the MakeBestMusic platform, it can integrate elements such as the grandeur of classical music, the dynamism of electronic music, and the characteristics of ethnic music, generating unique musical styles that are difficult to achieve with traditional creation modes. It can also quickly generate innovative music according to users’ personalized needs, bringing more novel options to film soundtracks.

AI Music Creation Tips

(I) Prompt Writing Skills

On the MakeBestMusic platform, precise and detailed prompts are the key to generating high-quality music. For example, when creating a soundtrack for a sci-fi movie, do not simply describe it as "sci-fi style music". Instead, write it in detail as "sci-fi style music with a strong sense of the future, full of electronic sound effects and space atmosphere. The melody has a sense of mystery of exploring the unknown, and the rhythm is dynamic to match the scenes of interstellar adventure". Such a prompt clearly defines the music style as sci-fi, includes emotional elements like mystery and a sense of exploration, and also mentions the characteristics of melody and rhythm. It helps MakeBestMusic understand the requirements more accurately, resulting in music that is more in line with expectations.

(II) Style Selection Guide

MakeBestMusic offers a wide variety of music styles, covering classical, pop, rock, electronic, jazz, ethnic, and other types, with more subdivided styles under each type. When choosing a music style for your work, you should fully consider the content of the work and the audience—avoiding a mismatch between style and content is very important. For instance, if you choose a lively and cheerful pop-rock style as the soundtrack for a serious historical documentary, it will seem out of place and damage the overall atmosphere and narrative effect of the documentary. Therefore, before selecting a style, you should conduct an in-depth analysis of the work’s theme, emotion, and the preferences of the target audience to ensure the music style perfectly matches the work.

(III) Post-Generation Editing Suggestions

Post-editing the generated music can further improve the integration of music and the work. In terms of volume adjustment, you should reasonably set the music volume according to the needs of different scenes in the work. For example, in quiet dialogue scenes of a movie, appropriately lower the music volume to highlight the dialogue content; in the climax fight scenes, increase the music volume to enhance the tense and exciting atmosphere.

You can also edit and splice the music according to the style and emotion of the work—remove unnecessary parts and combine different music segments into a more perfect whole. This makes it more coordinated with the rhythm and plot development of the work.

Conclusion

AI music generation technology, especially platforms like MakeBestMusic, has brought unprecedented convenience and innovation to the field of film soundtracks. It breaks the constraints of traditional soundtrack modes in terms of time, cost, and creative ideas, allowing creators to create unique musical atmospheres for films more efficiently and economically. Although AI music still has certain limitations in some aspects, such as emotional depth and originality at present, these problems are expected to be gradually solved with the continuous progress and improvement of technology.

For the majority of film creators, music lovers, and relevant industry practitioners, AI music generation technology is undoubtedly a new tool full of potential. We should try and explore it with an open mind, combine AI music with traditional music creation methods, and give play to their respective advantages. It is believed that in the near future, AI music will play a more important role in film soundtracks and other music fields, bringing us more wonderful music works and creating a richer and more diverse auditory world.