Suno’s AI Music Generator: Technically Brilliant, But Soulless

Suno’s latest AI music generator, version 5, represents a clear technical leap forward with cleaner audio and more complex arrangements. Yet for all its computational power, the output often feels sterile, lacking the emotional depth and human imperfections that define memorable music. While the company continues to refine its tool amid legal challenges from the music industry, the core issue of artistic soul remains unaddressed.

Audio quality has seen undeniable improvements. Compared to the previous v4.5+ model, which sometimes produced muddy mixes where instruments blurred together, v5 delivers much clearer separation. During a demonstration, a product manager highlighted a generated track featuring a synth with a ping-pong delay effect. He noted this indicated the model’s advanced ability to identify an isolated sound and reproduce it faithfully across the stereo field, a sign of growing technical sophistication.

The new version also creates more elaborate song structures. Where v4.5+ typically stuck to a basic verse-chorus format, v5 frequently introduces pre-chorus sections, multiple bridges, and breakdowns, giving songs a more dynamic arc. This complexity helps prevent the repetitive feel of earlier generations. In one test, the tool even produced an interesting remix of an existing song, transforming a guitar solo into a recurring synth motif and chord pads into driving arpeggios.

However, the system’s understanding of specific genres and eras remains inconsistent. When prompted for “modern avant R&B” reminiscent of Kelela, both v5 and v4.5+ delivered similar, somewhat moody downtempo tracks that missed the intended weirdness. A request for early ’90s lo-fi indie rock, aiming for the slacker vibe of Pavement, resulted in v5 producing bombastic, clean-sounding rock closer to Arctic Monkeys. Similarly, a “late 1970s krautrock” prompt was handled better by v4.5+, while v5 often defaulted to an ’80s synthpop or modern sound.

The most significant shortcoming lies in the vocal performances. Suno initially promoted v5 as having “emotionally rich vocals,” but that language has since been removed from public materials, replaced by descriptors like “natural” and “authentic.” In practice, the vocals are technically detailed but painfully generic. Every rock vocal channels Imagine Dragons, every R&B effort sounds like a lifeless Adele imitation. They are bathed in reverb, layered with harmonies, and perfectly on pitch, with no rough edges.

Attempts to command a raw, unprocessed vocal, specifically requesting “no reverb, no harmonies, no effects”, were completely ignored by the model. The generated tracks still arrived drenched in effects. The product manager explained that the models don’t yet comprehend descriptions of specific recording techniques; the vocal delivery is primarily influenced by the lyrics and general mood.

This points to the fundamental issue. You can feed Suno lyrics crafted to evoke the raw power of “Gimme Shelter,” and it will assemble all the components: a powerful female vocalist, a bluesy arrangement. Yet the result carries the emotional impact of a dentistry textbook. It lacks the crack in Merry Clayton’s voice, the desperate warble of Robert Smith, or the exhausted breath of Kurt Cobain, those imperfect, human details that convey true feeling.

Ultimately, trying to make Suno sound authentically “bad”, out of tune, raw, or sloppy, proves futile. The technology might recognize that lyrics are sad, but it possesses no genuine emotional connection to the words. It is, after all, an algorithm, not an artist. The technical brilliance is evident, but the soul is conspicuously absent.

(Source: The Verge)