Grandpa’s Suno Surprise
By David Outten
For many years, I worked for Movieguide®.
I loved to write songs. I even wrote scripts and songs for movie musicals. I could not find people willing to sing my songs. Online, I paid to have some sung and was not pleased with the result. I even published an entire book of lyrics and poems called Rhymes From the Heart. It can be discouraging to feel so left out when you think you’ve written some nice things.
Then came Suno.
Suno is a website powered by artificial intelligence. You can put in your lyrics, add some code like [verse], [bridge], and [chorus], give your work a title, choose some style prompts and you get two versions of your song sung. You can modify your choices and create two more songs. You can create pop, country, folk or many more styles. You can specify if you want a male or female singer.
BEWARE: This is addictive. The results are astounding.
I submitted one song called I Am Yours about being humble before God. I was concerned it might be too repetitive. The first version I got was kind of country, and I didn’t care for it. The third I listened to forty times. I loved it. Suno gave it a very gentle sweet voice with soft music. It truly gave the feeling I desired.
Another song I had Suno sing was called One Nation Under God. It was one I wrote for a movie called An American Dream. I had tried so hard to interest people in making the movie, but with no success. I even contacted some well-known singers to see if they liked the song. In Suno, I asked for a “pop” version. What I got STUNNED me. I wondered if God played a joke on me. I loved it. It sounded a lot like a famous singer, I would have loved to have sing the song. You may think so too.
Another very enjoyable Suno surprise was a love song I had written for my wife. It’s called Love You Forever. We’ve been married 51 years. How often do you hear grandparent love songs? The irony is that the music I love is movie soundtracks (John Barry, Ennio Morricone, John Williams, etc.) I NEVER listen to country music, so what did Suno give me? – an old folks country love song. I really like it.
I now have something like 50 songs available at davidoutten.com.
I have friends passionate about the future of blockchain technology. If you put a song on Spotify, and you’re not associated with a major label, it’s like putting a needle in a haystack and hoping it will hit the top of the charts. Spotify is not a get-rich scheme for grandfathers writing love songs.
Instead, I found a service called tune.tv. It has millions in backing, but it’s really a start-up seeking to cut middlemen out of the connection between creators and listeners. Creators get 90 percent of revenues, and tune.tv gets ten. Newcomers can even pay listeners to review their songs and build interest. The transactions are automatic and paid in crypto tokens — redeemable for cash.
Spotify is currently pushing material that gives them a higher share of income. It has an incentive to do so. Tune.tv gets the same ten percent regardless of the song. The payments are based on seconds played.
I do not anticipate getting rich on this service, but I like the transparency, and the deal offered. The service is likely to grow rapidly if some famous singers offer their work on the new service exclusively. I would not be surprised if some did go for the deal when Spotify reduces their income.
I then tried an AI video service. I took a still photo of my daughter and asked the service to have her sing one of my songs. I gave it the audio file. She sang a few seconds of the song. It was a bit creepy. It really looked like she sang it. I even had her dog sing it — VERY creepy, but this technology is coming at us like a tsunami. Soon, I could have Abraham Lincoln sing a whole song. I have movie musical scripts waiting to be made into movies. Like my songs, I haven’t been able to interest human beings in my musicals. One day you may get to see a movie called An American Dream made by me and no one but AI. You can hear some of the movie’s songs now at davidoutten.com.
I once attended one of Ted Baehr’s classes on How to Succeed in Hollywood (without losing your soul). I met a young man in the class and became good friends. I shared a movie script with him just to see what he thought of it. He bought the script from me, made the movie and now it has almost 9 million views on YouTube. It’s called I Believe.
Obviously, I’d recommend Ted’s classes to anyone who wants to make movies.
I’d recommend Suno to anyone with some lyrics they’d like to hear sung.
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