What This Stack Does
Every YouTube video, podcast, TikTok, and commercial needs background music. The problem? Licensing music is expensive, confusing, and risky (copyright strikes can destroy channels). This creates massive demand for affordable, royalty-free music. AI music generation lets you supply that demand — even if you've never played an instrument.
This stack turns you into a one-person music production studio. You'll generate original compositions in any genre, polish them for professional quality, and sell them through licensing platforms and direct commissions. The music sounds professionally produced because AI handles the complex parts — composition, arrangement, mixing. You focus on direction and curation.
The bottom line: You don't need to be a musician to sell music. You need good taste, an understanding of what content creators want, and the right AI tools. This is one of the lowest-cost stacks with genuine passive income potential.
The Tools
Four tools that form a complete AI music production pipeline. The total cost is remarkably low for the income potential.
Suno AI
$10/monthRole in the stack: Your AI composer and producer.
Suno is the breakthrough tool that makes this stack possible. Describe what you want — "upbeat electronic track for a tech review video, 2 minutes, builds to climax" — and it generates complete, professional-sounding music. The Pro tier gives you commercial rights to use and sell the music you create. The quality has gotten remarkably good.
How you'll actually use it:
- Generate full songs from text descriptions
- Create variations until you get the perfect track
- Produce different genres for different use cases
- Generate custom tracks for client commissions
- Build a library of ready-to-license music
AIVA
$15/monthRole in the stack: Your customizable composition assistant.
AIVA takes a different approach — it generates music that you can then customize track by track. Want to change just the drums? Extend the outro? Add more strings? AIVA gives you that control. It's perfect for clients with specific requirements or when you need to match music precisely to video timing.
How you'll actually use it:
- Generate customizable compositions with separate tracks
- Adjust individual instruments for perfect balance
- Create precise timing for video sync
- Produce orchestral and cinematic pieces
- Export stems for clients who need flexibility
Audacity
FreeRole in the stack: Your audio editing and mastering tool.
Audacity is the free, open-source audio editor that professionals have used for decades. Use it to polish AI-generated tracks — adjust levels, trim lengths, add fades, apply light mastering. It's not the fanciest software, but it handles everything you need without costing a dime.
How you'll actually use it:
- Trim tracks to exact lengths clients need
- Apply fade-ins and fade-outs
- Normalize volume levels
- Light mastering for polish
- Export in various formats (WAV, MP3, etc.)
DistroKid
$20/yearRole in the stack: Your music distribution to streaming platforms.
DistroKid distributes your music to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and 150+ other platforms. While streaming revenue won't make you rich (fractions of a penny per play), it creates passive income and builds legitimacy. Having your music on Spotify also helps when pitching to licensing clients — you look like a real producer.
How you'll actually use it:
- Distribute tracks to all major streaming platforms
- Collect streaming royalties passively
- Build credibility as a music producer
- Create a portfolio to show potential clients
- Reach listeners who might hire you directly
The Weekly Workflow
Here's how a productive week looks when running this stack. This workflow builds a library while handling custom commissions.
Library Building
Use Suno to generate 5-10 new tracks in trending genres. Focus on what content creators need: lo-fi beats, corporate backgrounds, energetic intros, cinematic scores. Save the best ones for your licensing library.
Polish & Master
Take your best generations into Audacity. Trim to standard lengths (30s, 60s, 90s, full), apply fades, normalize levels. Export multiple versions of each track for flexibility.
Custom Work
Handle any commission requests. Use AIVA for projects needing precise customization. Communicate with clients, deliver revisions, send final files. Custom work pays better than licensing.
Upload & Distribute
Upload polished tracks to stock music platforms (Pond5, AudioJungle, Artlist). Use DistroKid to distribute select tracks to streaming platforms. Write descriptions optimized for search.
Marketing & Outreach
Share samples on social media. Reach out to YouTubers who might need music. Check analytics on what's selling. Adjust your genre focus based on demand.
Get This Stack
Everything you need to create and sell AI-generated music:
This is the lowest-cost stack we feature. One custom commission covers months of tools.
Income Potential
Music income comes from multiple sources that stack together. Here's what's realistic:
Months 1–3: Building
$50–$300/moFocus on building your library — aim for 50+ tracks on licensing platforms. Early sales trickle in. Streaming pays almost nothing initially. First custom commissions come from outreach to small creators. Income is modest but growing.
Months 3–6: Growing
$300–$800/moLibrary of 100+ tracks generating consistent licensing income. Repeat customers for custom work. Some tracks get picked up by bigger creators. Streaming builds slowly. You know which genres sell and focus there.
Months 6–12: Scaling
$800–$2,000+/moLarge library (200+ tracks) generating passive licensing income. Regular custom clients. Some tracks become bestsellers. You might partner with video editors or offer music as part of larger packages. The compound effect of a growing library kicks in.
Revenue Streams
- Stock music licensing: $5-50 per download on Pond5, AudioJungle, etc.
- Custom commissions: $50-200 per track for content creators
- Streaming royalties: $0.003-0.005 per stream (volume game)
- YouTube Content ID: Passive income when your music is used in videos
- Sync licensing: $100-1,000+ for commercial/TV placements (rare but lucrative)
Who This Stack Is For
Great Fit If You...
- Have good musical taste (even without playing instruments)
- Enjoy discovering and curating music
- Want a side hustle with passive income potential
- Like the idea of building a library asset over time
- Understand what content creators need
- Want the lowest possible startup cost
Not Ideal If You...
- Have no ear for music quality
- Need significant income immediately
- Can't commit to building a library over months
- Are uncomfortable with AI ethics in creative work
- Want to be a "real" musician (this is production, not performance)
Common Questions
Yes, with the right tools and subscriptions. Suno's Pro tier and AIVA's paid plans include commercial licenses for the music you create. This means you can sell, license, and monetize the tracks. Always check the terms of service for each tool — some free tiers don't include commercial rights. The tools we recommend all have commercial licensing at the paid tiers.
For background music? Absolutely. YouTube videos, podcasts, corporate videos — they need functional music that sets a mood without distracting. AI excels at this. For hit singles or artist albums? That's different — human creativity still dominates there. Focus on the functional music market where AI genuinely competes with stock music libraries.
Most stock music platforms (Pond5, AudioJungle, Artlist) accept AI music as long as you have commercial rights. DistroKid distributes to streaming platforms without restrictions on AI. Some platforms are updating policies, so check current terms. The market is generally accepting AI music — what matters is quality and proper licensing.
Generation is half the battle — post-processing is the other half. Use Audacity to normalize levels, add proper fades, and trim to clean start/end points. Generate multiple versions of each track and keep only the best. Light mastering (compression, EQ) helps. The more you train your ear, the better you'll get at curating quality output.
Eventually, partially. Once you have a large library (200+ tracks) on multiple platforms, licensing income becomes relatively passive — you earn while you sleep. But building that library takes months of consistent work upfront. Custom commissions are never passive. Think of this as building an asset that pays dividends over time, not instant passive income.