AIVA

What is AIVA?

AIVA, short for Artificial Intelligence Virtual Artist, is a music composition platform that generates original scores from a few clicks or a MIDI melody you provide. It is one of the oldest AI music tools, founded in Luxembourg in 2016, and it has a track record of composing for games, films and adverts.

The engine is trained on a large corpus of classical and cinematic music, which shows in the output: lush orchestral textures, filmic themes and believable chord progressions. You can generate a full score, edit it in a built-in editor, and export the MIDI and audio.

Why it matters: AIVA proved years before the current boom that AI could write music people actually wanted to license. Its focus on soundtracks rather than pop songs makes it a distinct choice for media projects.

Key Features

• Generation of original compositions from mood, style and duration inputs
• MIDI import, so you can develop your own melody into a full arrangement
• Built-in score editor for fine-tuning notes and orchestration
• Export to audio, MIDI and sheet music
• AIVA is recognised as the composer, which simplifies rights for users
• Templates spanning orchestral, electronic, rock and world styles

How to get started

Create a free AIVA account and you can generate and download a small number of tracks each month. Pick a style and mood, set a duration, and AIVA writes a full composition you can edit in its editor.

• Sign up for a free account at aiva.ai
• Choose a style, mood and track duration
• Generate the composition and listen
• Edit notes and instrumentation in the score editor
• Export the track or upload your own MIDI to start fresh

Use cases

• Soundtracks for indie games and game trailers
• Film scoring and short film music
• Background scores for podcasts and video essays
• Royalty-free music for adverts and corporate videos
• Composition students studying arrangement and orchestration
• Prototyping music for theatre and interactive installations

Pricing and licensing

AIVA is freemium: the free plan lets you generate and download a limited number of tracks, while paid plans add more downloads, higher audio quality and full commercial rights.

A notable feature is that AIVA itself is registered as the composer, and with a paid subscription you get the rights to use the music in your projects. Check the pricing page for current plan details, since limits have changed over the years.

Pros and cons

AIVA's strength is focus: it does cinematic composition very well, the editor gives you real control over notes, and the composer-as-owner model makes licensing straightforward for media work.

The output can feel generic if you do not iterate, and the interface feels more dated than newer competitors. It is also less suited to modern pop and electronic vocals, which are better served by other tools.

Alternatives

• Suno: full songs with vocals from a text prompt
• Udio: music generation with fine control over style
• Stable Audio: Stability's model for music and sound effects
• Soundraw: royalty-free track generation for content creators
• Amper Music: another AI composer for media projects, now part of Shutterstock