A MusicGen Alternative That Sings — No GPU Needed
MusicGen is Meta's open-source model for making instrumental music. It runs free on your own machine and is a capable tool for short background loops — if you have a 12GB GPU and don't mind the command line. But it produces no vocals and no lyrics, clips cap out around 30 seconds, and its non-commercial license means you can't sell what it makes. Neume is built for the opposite need: a finished song with real vocals from a single prompt. Type an idea, and about a minute later you have a full, mixed track you can download and use commercially. Nothing to install, no GPU, and your first song is free.
Why creators pick Neume over MusicGen
Finished, singable songs you can actually release — with nothing to install.
Real vocals, real songs
Neume writes the lyrics and sings them over a full mix. MusicGen is instrumental only, with no vocals or lyrics.
No GPU, no setup
Type a prompt on your phone or browser. MusicGen's large model needs a 12GB GPU and a command-line install.
Yours to sell
Download a 320 kbps MP3 and use it commercially. MusicGen's weights are non-commercial (CC BY-NC), with no paid path to unlock rights.
A full track in about a minute
One prompt returns two finished versions to choose from. MusicGen makes short clips that need chaining to pass 30 seconds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Neume gives you your first song free with no credit card, plus a free option for lower-quality tracks. Unlike MusicGen, there's nothing to install and no GPU to buy — you just type a prompt in the app or browser.
No. MusicGen is an instrumental model — it produces short background-music clips with no vocals and no lyrics, and generations cap out around 30 seconds. Neume writes lyrics, sings real vocals, and delivers a full, mixed song from one prompt.
For the large stereo model, yes — around 12GB of VRAM, with the smaller model needing about 8GB. You also set it up through Python and the AudioCraft library. Neume runs on any phone or browser, so there's no hardware to buy and nothing to configure.
Your first song is free, no credit card needed. Paid plans start from $3.99, and if you'd rather not subscribe, one-time top-ups start from $4.99 and never expire. MusicGen is free to run, but only after you own a suitable GPU.
With Neume, yes — download a 320 kbps MP3 and use it personally or commercially. MusicGen is different: its model weights are released under CC BY-NC 4.0, so the output is non-commercial, and Meta offers no paid tier to unlock commercial rights.
Yes. Neume runs on web, iOS, Android, and an MCP server, so you can create songs from Claude or your own agent. MusicGen ships as open-source code you script yourself, with no hosted MCP endpoint to call.
Ready to hear your song?
Available on web, iOS, and Android. No credit card required.