Making and releasing music with AI

From your first musical idea to a professional release.

AI makes it possible to develop music without immediately needing a professional studio, expensive equipment or years of music production experience.

Coming up with melodies. Writing lyrics. Generating instruments. Developing vocals. Arranging tracks. Mixing and mastering music.

But how do you actually turn that into a song that is ready to be released?

Which programs can you use? What do they cost? How do you make sure your music sounds good, and which rights do you need before you publish a song on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube?

And perhaps more importantly: when are you allowed to use AI music commercially, who owns which rights and how does income from streaming and music licensing really work?

This FOREFACT guide researches how you can develop, edit, professionally prepare and distribute music with AI.

From your first musical ideas to a finished master, copyright checks, music registrations, release planning and financial results.

Not just discovering how to make music with AI. Learning how to develop, check and responsibly release a song of your own.

What you receive

The FOREFACT guide — 52 pages

• 36 chapters on AI music production, music software, copyright, distribution, promotion and income.

• Research into AI music generators, their possibilities, limitations, subscriptions and commercial terms of use.

• Step-by-step explanations of musical ideas, compositions, arrangements, instruments, lyrics and vocals.

• Two detailed production projects: an instrumental electronic single and a song with your own lyrics.

• Practical instructions for LMMS and Audacity, supplemented with AI-assisted production methods.

• Explanations of BPM, time signatures, MIDI, stems, audio formats, mixing and mastering.

• Seven adaptable sample prompts for different parts of music production.

• Comparisons of relevant software and distribution services.

• Research into copyright, commercial licences, master rights, samples and human creative contributions.

• Explanations of BumaStemra, Sena, performers’ rights and registering music with AI elements.

• Practical information about DistroKid, TuneCore and CD Baby, including differences in their policies on AI music.

• A fully completed fictional release example with metadata, credits and distribution checks.

• Research into Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, YouTube Content ID and streaming income.

• Five financial practical cases with costs, revenue scenarios and break-even calculations.

• Twenty common problems with possible causes and remedies.

• A release protocol with 45 checkpoints and a 90-day plan.

The Excel workbook — 22 tabs

Alongside the guide you receive a practical Excel workbook to prepare, manage and financially assess your own music projects.

Including:

• Track briefing and music project overview.

• Log of AI generations, prompts and downloads.

• Record of human creative contributions and credits.

• Rights matrix with GO/NO-GO checks.

• Register of samples, stems, voices and artwork.

• Arrangement planner with BPM, bar numbers and timecodes.

• Mixing and mastering check.

• Release details, metadata, ISRC and UPC.

• Distributor comparison tool.

• Cost and royalty calculator.

• Record of music licences and payments.

• Promotion budget and campaign overview.

• Personal financial dashboard.

• Release planner and 45 quality checks.

• Five fictional financial examples.

• A 90-day production and release schedule.

The workbook contains automatic calculations and separate sample data. Estimated royalties are not automatically shown as income actually received.

Which programs and platforms are researched?

The guide examines different solutions for making, editing and releasing music.

AI music generation

Suno and Udio, with attention to creative possibilities, subscriptions, downloads, commercial rights and important limitations.

Music production and audio editing

LMMS and Audacity for developing instrumental music, MIDI patterns, arrangements, audio editing and technical checks.

Music distribution

DistroKid, TuneCore and CD Baby, with attention to distribution options, costs, rights terms and policies on AI-generated music.

Streaming and publication

Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music and YouTube, including important differences between distribution, streaming income and Content ID.

Dutch rights organisations

BumaStemra and Sena, with explanations of the different rights that can arise in compositions, lyrics, performances and sound recordings.

You learn what role these programs and organisations play and why not every music tool or distributor is suitable for every AI production.

From musical idea to finished track

The guide takes you through the entire music production process.

01. Deciding on a musical direction

Explore which genre, tempo, sound and type of production you want to develop. Write a clear project briefing before you start.

02. Choosing AI music software

Compare generators and music programs on capabilities, costs, export functions and commercial terms.

03. Building your first music production

Learn how to develop an instrumental electronic track with rhythm patterns, MIDI, instruments and arrangement blocks.

04. Working with lyrics and vocals

Discover how to prepare your own lyrics, record vocals or support them with AI, and carefully document creative contributions.

05. Mixing and mastering music

Understand how to check volumes, frequencies, dynamics, peaks and technical audio quality before you export a master.

06. Assessing rights and licences

Examine which parts you made yourself, which AI tools were used and whether samples, vocals and other materials may be used commercially.

07. Preparing a professional release

Learn how artist details, track titles, credits, artwork, audio files, ISRC and distribution settings come together.

08. Publishing and promoting

Explore how music appears on streaming platforms, how you can prepare a release campaign and which forms of promotion are possible.

09. Calculating income and real costs

Learn how to analyse software, production time, distribution, promotion and any royalties separately.

Two detailed music productions

The guide contains two separate production projects.

Project 1 — An instrumental electronic single

You learn to set up a music project with a fixed tempo, rhythm pattern, bassline, melodic elements and arrangement.

With explanations of:

• Working with LMMS.

• BPM and time signatures.

• Kick, snare, percussion and bass.

• MIDI notes and arrangement.

• Build-up, transitions and ending.

• Export and audio check.

Project 2 — A song with your own lyrics

You develop a production that combines your own lyrics with AI support.

With attention to:

• Lyrics and musical structure.

• Creative directions and prompts.

• Vocals and audio editing.

• Selecting and improving generations.

• Mastering and technical quality.

• Documenting creative contributions.

• Rights check and release preparation.

The projects are designed to help you understand and carry out the production process on your own.

Releasing music: rights and registrations

An important part of this guide is the research into music exploitation.

Because being able to download a track does not automatically mean you own all the rights.

That is why the guide covers different layers of rights.

Composition and lyrics

Who actually created the music and lyrics? Which human creative contributions are present and when can copyright protection be relevant?

The master recording

Who produced the recording and which agreements apply to exploitation and distribution?

Performing artists

Which rights can arise when human musicians or vocalists contribute to a recording?

AI tools, samples and voices

Which licences are needed for generated music, samples used, synthetic voices and other audio material?

BumaStemra and Sena

When can registrations be relevant, and why are copyright, neighbouring rights and streaming payouts different parts of the music business?

YouTube Content ID

Why does this system require a separate rights check, and why is commercial permission for AI music not automatically sufficient?

For this, the guide contains a practical rights matrix and a worked fictional release example.

Five financial practical cases

The guide examines five different situations.

01. An electronic single

What does it cost to produce and release a track on your own?

02. An EP with three tracks

How do the costs change when you develop several songs as one project?

03. Selling music to video makers

Which selling prices and licence terms may be needed to recoup production costs?

04. A production with AI vocals

What additional costs and rights risks arise with vocals and synthetic voices?

05. A release campaign

What happens financially when you spend money on promotion without guaranteed streaming income?

The cases show how your own labour, paid costs, potential income and break-even are connected.

All amounts are fictional worked examples. They are not presented as proven income or average market results.

Who is this guide for?

For beginners who want to make their first song with AI.

For people who produce music without experience of a professional studio.

For artists who want to use AI as a tool for composition, lyrics, arrangements or audio production.

For producers and DJs who want to explore the possibilities and limitations of AI music software.

For content creators who want to develop their own music for videos, projects or other commercial uses.

For people who want to release music on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube and first want to understand the different rights, costs and registrations.

And for anyone who wants to explore whether AI music production can become a creative or commercial activity.

You do not need any previous music production experience to start with the beginner exercises.

What this guide does not promise

AI makes music production more accessible, but not every generated track is original, technically usable or suitable for commercial publication.

Moreover, a paid subscription does not automatically mean that you own all the copyright or that every distribution platform will accept the music.

Some AI programs have restrictions on downloads, commercial use or the processing of existing music.

Nor does publishing a song on Spotify or YouTube automatically generate income. Streaming revenue depends on various conditions and is not based on one guaranteed amount per stream.

Software prices, distribution terms, copyright interpretations and platform policies may change after the research.

The financial examples are fictional scenarios, not forecasts of income you will actually earn.

The guide does not replace personal legal, tax or specialist copyright advice.

FOREFACT offers independent research, practical instructions, comparisons, calculations and tools to help you produce and publish music better prepared.

From discovering how AI music works, to understanding how to make a song yourself and release it responsibly.

FOREFACT. KNOW IT BEFORE IT COSTS YOU.

Digital product: PDF (52 pages) + Excel workbook (.xlsx, 22 tabs).

Both files are made available digitally after purchase.

Language: English