AIVA

AIVA pre-dates the current AI music wave by years and has stayed deliberately in its lane of classical, cinematic, and orchestral composition. The output is symbolic (MIDI plus rendered audio) which means you can export to a DAW and re-orchestrate manually — a workflow most newer AI music tools don't support.

The platform was trained primarily on classical and cinematic compositions, much of which is in the public domain, putting it on cleaner legal footing than Suno or Udio. Pricing: Free tier with limits, Standard at $15/month, Pro at $49/month (or $33/month annual).

The Pro plan transfers full copyright ownership of compositions to the user, which is unusual and meaningful for projects that need to register music with a Performing Rights Organization (PRO) or use the music as primary IP rather than background. Students and educators get 15 percent off monthly or 30 percent off annual.

Where it shines is for documentary and narrative podcasts that need orchestral or cinematic scoring with the option to extend or re-orchestrate manually. The MIDI workflow means a composer can use AIVA as a sketching tool then finish the arrangement in Logic, Cubase, or Pro Tools.

Where it falls short is on modern pop and electronic genres (Suno does these better), the absence of vocals, and Pro pricing higher than newer AI tools. Best fit for serious narrative or documentary work where classical orchestration matters and copyright ownership is required.