How to make an AI song for someone as a gift

Start with five true details

A song feels personal because of details only the two of you know. Before you write a line, note down:

• Their name, and how it is said. If it is unusual, write it the way it sounds, such as “Shiv-awn” for Siobhan. The model sings what it reads.
• A place. The street you met on, the city of a trip, the kitchen where it happened.
• A moment. One scene, told plainly: the night the car broke down, the first dance, the call at 3am.
• A phrase they say. A nickname or an inside joke makes the best chorus line.
• What they love. Their favourite genre, a band they play in the car, how they dance.

Specific beats grand. “You laughed at the parking ticket in Lisbon” lands harder than “you light up my world”.

Turn the details into a verse and a chorus

Write one verse that tells the moment and a chorus built around their name or their phrase. Mark them with [Verse] and [Chorus].

• Give the model enough words. With only about four lines, it adds lines of its own. A full verse and a chorus keep the song about them.
• Put the name in the chorus. It comes back every time the chorus does, which is what people remember.
• Keep lines short and even. Lines sung to the same tune should have about the same number of syllables; the syllable counter shows them.
• Stuck? Type the five details into the lyric writer and edit what it drafts. Make sure every line still sounds like you.

More on writing words that sing well is on turn your lyrics into a song.

Pick a sound they would choose

Choose the genre from their playlist, not yours. Then match the tempo to the moment:

• A birthday: upbeat and short, easy to play at the table. See the birthday song prompts.
• A partner or an anniversary: a slow, warm love song, or the genre you both danced to. See the love song prompts.
• A wedding or a first dance: a steady tempo people can sway to. See the wedding song prompts.
• A friend: the loud, funny version, in the style of the songs you share.

Choose the voice as well: a soulful female, a deep male, rap or a duet. The words can be in any of 12 languages, so you can write it in theirs.

Generate two or three takes and check every line

Each generation writes a new melody for the same words, so make two or three and keep the one that fits them best. Listen with the lyrics in front of you:

• Is the name sung the way they say it? If not, respell it and generate again.
• Is every line there? A long verse can come back with a line changed. Shorten it if that keeps happening.
• Does the chorus land where you hoped? If the song feels too long, ask for a shorter one; a song can run up to 3 minutes.

A song costs 4 credits on Lyro High or 5 credits on Lyro Extra, whatever its length, and it is usually ready in a minute or two. If a generation fails, its credits come back. A new account can make one song of up to 60 seconds for $1, once, without a subscription.

How to give it

• A private link. Switch sharing on for the song and send the link. Share pages are unlisted: only people with the link can hear it, and search engines do not list them.
• A file. Download it as MP3 or FLAC and send it, or play it from your phone at the table.
• A cover. Ask for cover art made for the song (8 credits, 4096 × 4096) with the title on it, so it looks like a real release.
• A video. Put the song under photos of the two of you. Every paid plan includes a commercial licence, so the music can go on social media.

If it is a surprise, play it to yourself once on a phone speaker first. That is how most people will hear it.

Keep it kind and keep it yours

• Do not ask for a famous singer’s voice or paste lyrics from their songs. The model refuses both, and the song should sound like it came from you anyway.
• Leave out anything the person would not want strangers to hear, such as an address, a health detail or a private joke about someone else.
• Ask before you release a song with their name on Spotify or YouTube. A song made for one person is theirs to share.
• Songs that harass, threaten or bully someone are against our acceptable use policy.

Questions