2025 AI Theme: It’s Never Too Late
We are thrilled to announce an exciting new addition to the 2025 Talent Is Timeless Songwriting Contest: the AI Category! This year, we invite you to explore the innovative theme “It’s Never Too Late,” encouraging artists to push creative boundaries through collaboration with artificial intelligence.
Embrace a Future of Songwriting
The AI Category is designed to inspire you to harness the power of AI tools while staying true to your unique artistic vision. This is your opportunity to break new ground in songwriting and redefine what it means to create music in today’s digital age.
What We’re Looking For
If you’re ready to enter the AI category, here’s how we’d love for you to approach it:
- Use AI as a Creative Tool: The goal isn’t for AI to write your song—it’s for AI to assist or inspire! You remain the artist, making all creative decisions and crafting the final product.
- Incorporate the Theme: How does your song reflect the idea that “It’s Never Too Late”? We want to hear songs that celebrate resilience, reinvention, and timeless creativity.
- Be Transparent: In your submission, let us know how you used AI. Did you generate lyrics, melodies, or chord progressions? Sharing this information helps us evaluate your song thoughtfully.
How to Use AI Tools
To help you create your entry, consider these approaches and tools:
- Generating Lyrics: Use AI tools like OpenAI’s Jukebox or These Lyrics Do Not Exist to draft verses or suggest ideas, then refine them into your own voice.
- Melody Inspiration: Explore platforms like Amadeus Code or AIVA for melody generation that you can develop further.
- Chord Progressions: Experiment with chord suggestions using SongStarter or Humtap to build a strong foundation for your song.
- Filling in the Gaps: If you’re struggling with a line or verse, consider using Rytr or Jasper to brainstorm and complete your thoughts.
Additional AI Tools for Songwriting
Here are some more AI tools that musicians are using:
- Amper Music: Create custom music tracks easily. Explore Amper Music.
- IBM’s Watson Beat: A customizable tool for generating unique musical compositions. Discover Watson Beat.
- ChatGPT: Great for generating lyrics and brainstorming ideas. Try ChatGPT.
Judging Criteria
Your entry will be evaluated based on:
- Creativity: How uniquely and meaningfully you’ve interpreted the theme.
- Artistry: How well your song reflects your personal touch, even with AI collaboration.
- Execution: The overall quality of your song, including its emotional impact and composition.
While we’ll consider how AI was used in your creative process, our primary focus will be on your skill, vision, and the final product.
A Unique Prize for a Unique Category
We are excited to offer a special prize for this inaugural category! As we explore what this means for future contests, we promise to honor winners in a meaningful way that celebrates their creativity and innovation.
Practical Details
- Entry Contribution: £15 per song, which includes personalized feedback from our judges.
- Submission Options: Enter via URL (YouTube, SoundCloud, Bandcamp) or upload an MP3/WAV file.
Why Enter the AI Category?
This is more than just a contest; it’s an invitation to challenge yourself creatively and be part of an exciting intersection between art and technology. Whether you’re a seasoned songwriter or just curious about AI’s potential in music creation, this category is a space for experimentation, learning, and sharing your unique voice.We encourage you to comment below with any AI tools you’ve used in your songwriting process or share any experiences—good or bad—that you’ve had with these technologies. Your insights could help fellow artists navigate this innovative landscape!We can’t wait to hear your creations and see how you interpret “It’s Never Too Late.”
Submit Your Song: https://www.talentistimeless.com/competition/
Contest Checklist: https://www.talentistimeless.com/entry-checklist-2025-contest/
Let’s make history together! 🌟
Have you ever used AI for songwriting? Tell us about your experience in the comments!
Leave a comment
In my view this is a fantastic and well thought through response to the AI conundrum, thank you!
I’ve had a great experience with AI tools, specifically Udio. I’m not interested in having a whole song “written” for me. But choosing where each song goes in 30 second increments, making all the lyrical decisions, tempo, key instrumentation, etc, I can do a lot with that. I released my first singles on Spotify last August and I have an album of material ready to go in the Spring. Make no mistake, the songs are truly crafted. It’s also fun to brainstorm lyric ideas with ChatGPT. Songwriting inspiration can and should come from anywhere!
I wonder where I would be if this technology had existed [1975] when I started writing and recording. I began with two cassette recorders to create different tracks, and now I can do much more with AI and computers.
The first AI program I used to generate song lyrics was LyricLab. This AI-generated program creates lyrics based on prompts and allows me to generate chords and time signatures. I then paste the generated lyrics into another software for songwriters called MasterWriter, where I personalize the lyrics using the templates provided by LyricLab.
Then came AI tools like Udio and Suno, which significantly changed my experience as a songwriter. I am limited in my guitar-playing skills—while I use the instrument to accompany myself, I do not consider myself a guitarist.
Additionally, I am not interested in the overall production process and the cost of mastering a demo from start to finish. AI solved the issues of limited skill and the cost and time involved in production.
Now, I can work on rewrites and hear a demo in various styles, genres, and vocal or melody arrangements instantly. to my satisfaction. AI has opened up a floodgate of inspiration for my lyrics in ways I never thought possible, which leads me back to my opening statement: “Where would I have been if all this had been available in 1975?”
This will be a fun and rewarding challenge. I have been looking for a collaborator and as I start to use AI, it certainly speeds the process, gives you instant help, and it is amazing what phrases and words it helps in tweaking your work.
Good luck and good writing!
All the Best,
JJ
Jimmy are you an expert in using AI for songs? We are looking for one if you know one!
No Saskia,
I am not an expert at anything 🙂
Regards,
Jimmy
Well,
I guess everything depends on just how much you really want to experiment/produce, with AI assistance. I’m sure that all of the tools mentioned are very helpful in the songwriter’s final result; however, if it is a pre requisite for the competition, to apply your own cords, tones and building the song from scratch to the song’s end…then I may have to pass. I have read a lot and watched a lot, of articles, expressing how all of the AI purists incorporate every last ounce of technology that they can find, to complete their song. All very techy and imo, a complete waste of time. Most of the finished results that I have heard, compare equally and quite often, unequally, with a lot of the songs that I have completed, without the need for any of the tools suggested herewith, or, those used by the AI specialists, which I’m happy to declare, that I am not. I have stated before how long it can take for me to produce a final version of a song that I am happy with. But the way for me, in using music generator assistance, is to painstakingly implement instructions for differing instruments, and genre and the type of sound and voice that is required.
Yes, a huge amount of material can sound very generic, along with voices and yes, hundreds of results are dumped, but as a lyricist, I know within 30 seconds if what is being offered, is the sound/result, that is the most interesting to the words that I have written. Quite often infact, I find that the genre which I have been trying to squeeze my lyrics into, is not the correct genre for the song at all. However, trying others is both seemless and painless, although also quite frustrating at times. All power to those who prefer to use all of the tools available. I get that and whatever floats your boat etc..but that way is not for me.
I just want to write decent lyrics and have a chosen voice and music, turn it into a song, which is pleasing to the ear.
If I can do that and still enter, then I’m definitely up for the challenge.
Hi Rick – we are not ‘AI purists’ as you put it 🙂 There is a general feeling that if AI is used in generataing lyrics, melody or chords then it should be in the AI category, and in the other categories there should be no use of AI at all. I understand some communities might want every aspect done by AI to test the limits of what it is and what it can do, but we are mostly interested in how people are using it to support their creativity and enhance what they want to say with their songs. It’s still your creation and your creativity that we are interested in.
Hi Saskia,
I wasn’t suggesting that TisT is an AI purist, but rather that there are many indvidual users out there, that def are and take the available technology to extremes. A lot of what these guys apply separately to their required result, will already have been given a version of by the AI generator concerned.
There is also a growing number of prompts used to develop a song and having tried some of them out, I have found that most of it is not really required. If lyrics are written correctly, AI will recognise what should be developed within a songs context, from instructions that the lyricist has already requested at the outset. All I meant was, that some users, make it more challenging than is often necessary.
Ah yes I see.
Just to be a little clearer; when I have decided on genre, vocals and instruments, if I am not happy with the result all I do is re-prompt the same request and AI will then return different results.