AI Music
7
min read

AI Music Tools Revolutionizing Film and TV Soundtracks: Faster, Cheaper, and More Creative

edit songs with SOUNDRAW
Published on
January 22, 2025

Danny Elfman’s estimated net worth is at $50 million, and he’s responsible for some of the most famous Hollywood television and film soundtracks. The Simpsons wouldn’t sound the same without that iconic track... However, most studios and people don’t have a net worth of $50 million to invest in their soundtrack or music.

AI music tools are being used to generate music for film and television. Speed, cost-effectiveness, and customization options are making it easier for studios and creators to score and create.

AI-generated soundtracks could be the future of film and television.

Here’s what you should know about using AI music tools for film and TV soundtracks.

What About the Anti-AI Strike?

The Guilds weren’t protesting the use of AI within Hollywood—but instead were protesting the unlicensed, specific use of Actors Guild members as digital comebacks without their permission.

This doesn’t prohibit the use of artificial intelligence in film or television, but focuses on more careful protection of individual faces and likenesses.

In fact, AI is already a popular tool for film and TV soundtracks. An article in Forbes calls it “the AI take-over in cinema”, referring to studios that already use artificial intelligence for promotion, marketing, and creation.

AI music for film and tv

AI for Film and TV Soundtracks

AI can be used to create (that is, score) whole film or show soundtracks.

The soundtrack can be intuitively tailored to fit the specific scene, mode, tone, character, or style.

When previously studied, the movies Psycho and Jaws had the perfect mathematical answer to what makes a scene’s music tense and appropriate. Today, similar technology powers machine-learning music tools like SOUNDRAW.

Generated music can be created to match any particular occurrence or prompt. If you were making a movie that needed “dramatic fade-in music for a love story scene on a train station” or “music while the hero is fighting against a dragon” then you could do so within seconds.

Studios already use AI-generated content, including for promotion and marketing.

Scoring, Background Music, and Sound Design

AI can be used for scoring, background music, and sound design. SOUNDRAW can generate appropriate music for any scene, genre, or feeling and mood—machine-learning means that it knows everything there is to know about music, and good music.

This doesn’t eliminate human talents, but makes it easier for people to get their ideas from thought process into an actual song or soundtrack.

AI Music Tools Revolutionizing Film and TV Soundtracks

Why Use AI for Film and TV?

The estimated production costs of any high-quality movie or television show can be high—and without a million-dollar investor or two, many shows and movies never see the audience they deserve.

Using generative AI for film and television cuts down the projected budget. For amateur filmmakers and professional studios alike, it’s cheaper and easier to get creative, original content out there.

Here’s why AI-generated soundtracks for film and TV could be the future.

Speed

One of the important reasons to use AI-generated music for soundtracks is speed.

Scoring a movie or show the traditional way could take months, and might even delay an anticipated premiere or release.

SOUNDRAW solves months’ worth of red tape and rewriting within seconds. If the song doesn’t sound right for the scene, simply change your prompts for an instant rewrite.

ai music for tv and film soundtrack creation.jpg

Cost-Effectiveness

Cost-effectiveness is also behind what makes AI popular for soundtrack creation. Hiring a composer or entire symphony could blow an entire film’s budget—and in many cases, deplete what you had to finish or release a project.

Using AI-generated music for movies and TV saves costs. This includes paying royalties and performance fees, but also studio and mastering costs. AI can do all of the above, and for less.

Filmmakers and studios have more of a dedicated budget to focus on creating better stories, instead of paying most of their budget for a soundtrack that AI can generate in a couple of clicks.

Customization Options

Sometimes it’s tough to describe to someone exactly what you’d like to hear in the finished product.

They don’t always get it right. However, AI prompts won’t have this problem—and AI-generated music has instant customization options that guarantee perfect results.

Include the details you’d like to hear in your prompt, including more about the scene or the style you’d like it to match up with. If the prompt doesn’t work the first time or you’d like to experiment with something different, it’s only a few clicks away—instead of months and a few thousand dollars more.

soundraw for tv and film soundtrack

Dynamic Soundtracks

AI-generated soundtracks can also depend entirely on the action that’s depicted on screen. This means that its approach to music creation can be dynamic, changing with the mood or setting of your story.

Working with another creator or composer can be challenging. You don’t always speak the right language, and can expect a single miscommunication to take months. AI-generated music doesn’t have this issue!

The AI-generated film and television soundtrack can be entirely reliant on prompts from the scene’s action: tense and fast-paced music fitting a tense scene, or a slower rock-ballad for an 80s inspired romantic comedy.

That’s part of why AI-generation is becoming more commonly used for film and television soundtracks, but also for video games and other media.

AI Music Tools: Opening Creativity for Filmmakers

AI music tools means that anyone can be a creator. There’s no need to wait for an investor, or put months into rewriting when the first soundtrack didn’t fit the scene or mood—largely, you’ll see that AI music tools are opening creativity for filmmakers and studios.

Creating is becoming easier, cheaper, and more accessible for a world of creators. If there’s something to say, then AI-generated music tools can help anyone to say it. That’s a powerful tool when you know what to do with it!

With AI tools like SOUNDRAW, users can create any kind of music they’d like to hear with just a couple of prompts. All you have to do is know your story, and SOUNDRAW uses its database to know the rest.