Music is one of the places we use AI just for fun, and it keeps turning into something useful. Our show jingle came out of Suno. Jordan, a DJ since he was a kid, built a two-deck mixer where an AI button writes new beats in Strudel code. For Angie Westbrook of Standard AI, we made a store DJ that changes tempo as the store fills up. Our view across episodes: AI makes music production fast and accessible, and it won't replace human musicians.
I think, I could have never built something so dynamic, so progressive without the use of LLMs.
— Jordan Metzner, Episode 11
How we and our guests use AI in music
Suno: text to song
In Episode 3 (from 12:23), Jordan demoed Suno, which he called "basically text to song." His trick: Suno won't let you reference artists, so he has ChatGPT write the prompt and lyrics first, then pastes both into Suno. He turned the same lyrics into an opera song and then a country-trap track. He also walked through Suno's newer features: MP3 and WAV downloads, lyric videos, an editor for remixing, and stems that separate vocals from the instrumental. We used it to make the Built This Week jingle and loops for our clips.
Strudel: music as code that LLMs can write
Jordan found Strudel, a JavaScript live-coding library for music, on TikTok. Its syntax is easy to read and edit, and "LLMs are great at writing code," so he built a mixer on top of it with mostly OpenAI Codex over Labor Day weekend. Every press of the AI button rewrote a channel's beat. (Strudel AI DJ mixer)
Standard AI: does the soundtrack change how people shop?
Standard AI uses computer vision on store cameras to measure shopper behavior. Angie's take on our store DJ was that sales data alone can't show an instant reaction, but tracking browsing could test whether upbeat music works. She offered to put it in one of their stores. (Episode 21, at 07:21)
Google Lyria
In Episode 38, Sam asked about Google's music model, and Jordan generated a reggae song about the show with Lyria inside Google AI Studio. It was a quick look, not a full test.
What we built
- Strudel AI DJ mixer: inspired by Ableton and DJ Pro, with two decks, multiple channels per deck, an A/B sub-mixer, master effects and sync. Jordan called it "a little buggy," but each AI press produced a different techno beat.
- AI retail DJ: Sam's idea, Jordan's build. Five custom AI-generated songs run from 90 BPM up to 130 and back to 100, mapped to occupancy from opening mode to a packed store to closing. The intro track includes a welcome message for shoppers.
What's still hard
- Production software is behind. Jordan said digital audio workstations like Logic and Ableton haven't built in AI the way Suno has. He wants to be able to say "put a drum track on it" while you work.
- Proving business value. Our store DJ is a hypothesis. Sam noted a candle shop may not want 130 BPM while a sunglasses shop might, and nobody has measured it yet.
- Learning curve. Sam admitted the mixer looked complicated to him, though he thought he could build a basic version in a couple of hours and learn mixing that way.
- Artist rules. Suno blocks artist names, which is why Jordan routes prompts through ChatGPT.
On the AI band Velvet Sundown, Jordan was unconvinced the music was amazing but expects more AI artists. His bigger point:
Will, you know, AI music eliminate human generated music? I don't think so. Will it improve, the quality of music generated by humans? Yeah. Most likely.
— Jordan Metzner, Episode 3
Episodes on AI in music
- Episode 3: Auto-Marketing for Podcasts: the Suno demo and the Velvet Sundown debate (July 2025).
- Episode 11: Coding the Beat: the Strudel AI DJ mixer (September 2025).
- Episode 21: Not Your Standard Market: the retail DJ, with Angie Westbrook of Standard AI (November 2025).
- Episode 38: a quick Lyria demo in Google AI Studio.
FAQ
How is AI used in music?
On our show it has been used three ways: text-to-song generation with Suno (we made the Built This Week jingle with it), LLMs writing Strudel code to generate beats in a DJ mixer, and AI-generated tracks matched to store occupancy for retail.
Will AI replace musicians?
Jordan doesn't think so. In Episode 3 he said AI music won't eliminate human-made music but will most likely improve it, and that the bigger opportunity is AI inside production software like Logic or Ableton.
How do you get better songs out of Suno?
Jordan has ChatGPT write the Suno prompt and the lyrics first. Suno doesn't allow artist names, so he tells ChatGPT to leave them out, then pastes the style prompt and lyrics into Suno.
Can AI music increase retail sales?
It's untested. We built an AI DJ that raises tempo as a store fills up; Standard AI CEO Angie Westbrook said she'd like to try it in a store to measure whether shoppers browse more.