AI music generator cost: what one track costs to make

An AI music generator on Sume costs a flat $0.125 per audio generation, so each track you generate is one fixed charge, plus a 5.5% agent fee by default. The price is per generation, not per minute of music, and each extra take is another generation.

The rate is read from the code behind API pricing. What the price covers comes from the Music Router and Music 1.0 docs, and the trim step from Timeline audio, read on 2026-09-29.

What changes the price of a track?

Very little. The Music docs say the price does not vary by prompt length or optional image conditioning, and the Music Router docs say every router model charges the fixed Music price per audio generation.

• The model: sume/music-auto (the default), lyria-3.5 and lyria-3-pro all bill the same fixed price.
• The prompt: 1 to 5,000 characters, same price at any length.
• An image: image_url is optional and doesn't change the price.
• The length: you steer it in the prompt ("a 2-minute track"). duration and duration_seconds are rejected, so there is no per-minute meter.

How much should I budget for a finished track?

Budget per attempt, not per keeper. If you generate 10 takes to choose one, that track costs $1.25 before the fee. The take counts below are examples. Cutting a track to an exact length is a separate Timeline audio split at $0.01 per job.

Am I charged for a failed generation?

Normally not. At submit Sume reserves the estimated amount, a successful job captures it, and a failed job releases or refunds the reservation where applicable. A take you simply don't like is different: it completed, so it was captured. The Music docs call the brief's settings "creative directions, not guaranteed output settings", so listen before you publish.

What do I get for the price?

One audio file per generation, returned as a media.sume.com URL in result.artifacts[], typically audio/mpeg. Tracks run up to a few minutes. The request has a prompt and an optional image, with no lyrics or voice field. Music generation API shows the request, and AI music prompt examples covers writing the brief.

Price and rights are separate questions. AI video generator for commercial use covers what Sume's terms say about using outputs.