This GitHub page highlights an important issue in AI-generated music: the lack of representation for Global South music genres. We’ve put together examples showing how AI models do a good job with well-known genres like American Jazz, Western Classical, and American Rock. But when it comes to genres like Korean Pop and Latin American Rumba, the AI doesn’t perform as well, showing less variety and depth.
The biggest gap is with under-represented genres like Middle Eastern Classical, Indian Classical, and Indian Hip-Hop. These genres, which are important to the cultural identity of the Global South, are often ignored or poorly represented by AI models. Our page shows these differences and calls for a more inclusive approach to AI music generation so that the rich musical traditions from all parts of the world are recognized and preserved.
This work is based on a study conducted to find the distribution of region-wise and genre-wise music styles in datasets and music generation papers within the research community. An extensive study was performed covering more than 1 million hours of data and 200 music generation papers in 12 major conferences including IJCAI, AAAI, ICLR, ICML, EURASIP, EUSIPCO, ISMIR, NeurIPS, FRSM, SMC, NIME, ICASSP. The surveyed papers and datasets can be found on the following pages:
Prompt: Compose an American jazz piece with a romantic and intimate tone, perfect for a cosy dinner evening and slow dancing. Use smooth saxophone melodies, gentle piano chords, and a relaxed rhythm in the musical piece.
| Udio(v1) | Udio(v2) | MusicGen | SunoAI(v1) | SunoAI(v2) |
Prompt: Create a Western classical music piece with a joyful and uplifting tone. Incorporate variations in the performance style of Bach, emphasising dynamic contrasts and intricate melodic lines to evoke a sense of positivity.
| Udio(v1) | Udio(v2) | MusicGen | SunoAI(v1) | SunoAI(v2) |
Prompt: Generate an intense American metal track with an aggressive and powerful tone, perfect for a street fighter vibe. Incorporate heavy riffs, fast-paced drumming, and gritty vocals.
| Udio(v1) | Udio(v2) | MusicGen | SunoAI(v1) | SunoAI(v2) |
Prompt: Korean pop music for carefree teens partying at night.
| Udio(v1) | Udio(v2) | MusicGen | SunoAI(v1) | SunoAI(v2) |
Prompt: Create a lively Latin rumba dance piece with vibrant beats and a beachy, summery vibe. Keep the music upbeat with playful melodies.
| Udio(v1) | Udio(v2) | MusicGen | SunoAI(v1) | SunoAI(v2) |
Prompt: Create an upbeat Indian hip-hop track on an artist's life in the city slums. Use gritty Hindi rap with raw, powerful lyrics, blending drum kick offset.
| Udio(v1) | Udio(v2) | MusicGen | SunoAI(v1) | SunoAI(v2) |
Prompt: Generate an Indian classical music piece with a joyful and uplifting tone. Include a soothing sitar melody in the background, creating a harmonious and positive atmosphere throughout the composition.
| Udio(v1) | Udio(v2) | MusicGen | SunoAI(v1) | SunoAI(v2) |
Prompt: Classical Middle Eastern music with Oud used in the background.
| Udio(v1) | Udio(v2) | MusicGen | SunoAI(v1) | SunoAI(v2) |
Prompt: Create an African folk music piece with smooth Kora chords and gentle djembe beats, celebrating a festival. Evoke a joyful, relaxed vibe, ideal for an outdoor afternoon gathering filled with tradition.
| Udio(v1) | Udio(v2) | MusicGen | SunoAI(v1) | SunoAI(v2) |
Prompt: Create an African folk piece with frequent, periodic drum beats harmonized with the sounds of the masiqo. Make it upbeat and lively, perfect for dancing at a wedding celebration.
| Udio(v1) | Udio(v2) | MusicGen | SunoAI(v1) | SunoAI(v2) |