As I mentioned in my previous post, today I’ll dive deeper into how I create songs for Digital Scars. Songwriting can be simple, but I invest extra time, money, and energy to make my music sound as professional as possible.
With this method, I can create music efficiently and creatively without spending days in a studio. AI doesn’t replace creativity—it’s a powerful tool that helps me develop ideas faster and better.
🎯 What Defines a Digital Scars Song?
Digital Scars songs are emotional, introspective, and often explore personal experiences. I write about deep and sometimes painful subjects, but always with an artistic and melodic touch.
Digital Scars is also an experiment: How far can AI be pushed in English-language alternative music? 🤖✨
But how does it work exactly?
🛠️ The AI Tools I Use
To create my music, I use a combination of different AI tools, each playing a specific role in the process. Here’s the full breakdown, in the order I use them:
1️⃣ ChatGPT – Assists with lyric writing and generates a Suno prompt.
2️⃣ Suno – The AI that generates the music and vocals.
3️⃣ DALL·E (via ChatGPT) – Creates the cover art for the releases.
4️⃣ Leonardo.Ai – A high-quality image generation AI that provides additional options for cover art.
5️⃣ BigJPG – An AI upscaler that sharpens the cover art. – An AI upscaler that sharpens the cover art.
6️⃣ Wondershare Filmora – Used for creating Spotify Canvas videos. – Used for creating Spotify Canvas videos.
7️⃣ Mixea – An AI mastering tool that enhances the final track for a professional sound. – An AI mastering tool that enhances the final track for a professional sound.
Publishing is done via DistroKid (not AI, so no #8 😄). This platform distributes my music to Spotify, YouTube, and other streaming services.
💡 Fun fact: Mixea is directly integrated into DistroKid, making the mastering process even easier!
I always follow this fixed order to maintain consistency in my results. Each of these tools will be explained in detail in separate articles. Some steps are extensive, while others are quick and straightforward.
A fun side note: You can use Suno to generate full song lyrics from scratch based on your instructions—without ChatGPT, even in English. You just describe the type of song you want. I don’t use this feature myself because I prefer to write interactively, and Suno doesn’t allow for discussions or adjustments. But if you have no professional ambitions and want a quick solution, it’s definitely an option. More on this in the next blog post.
1️⃣ ChatGPT – The First Step in Songwriting ✍️
🔹 What Can ChatGPT Do for Songwriting?
ChatGPT can write lyrics, scripts, articles, and even full books. But… English song lyrics? It’s not perfect. 😅 (More on that in a moment!)
To get the best results from ChatGPT for songwriting, you need clear instructions. These are the standards I use (optimized by ChatGPT itself!):
📝 Structure & Formatting for Digital Scars
✅ Section headings in square brackets (e.g., [Verse 1], [Chorus], [Bridge]).
✅ Title and artist name always at the top (e.g., Title – Digital Scars).
✅ No punctuation at the end of each line (to meet DistroKid requirements).
🎼 Standard Song Structure for Three-Verse Songs:
- Verse 1
- Pre-chorus
- Chorus
- Verse 2
- Pre-chorus
- Chorus
- Verse 3 (optional)
- Instrumental solo (optional)
- Bridge
- Final chorus
- Outro
🎤 Rhyme & Word Choice
✅ Every two lines must rhyme perfectly.
✅ Rhyme should sound natural (no forced rhyming!).
✅ Modern English – no outdated words.
✅ No explicit content (no references to alcohol, drugs, violence).
These are the key rules, but I follow many more. This gives you a good starting point.
🎭 ChatGPT Isn’t Perfect – and Why You Need to Stay Critical
Even with these standards set, I often have to remind ChatGPT to follow them. And even then… it strays. Sometimes I get lyrics that require a lot of editing. In some cases, I tweak sections, but there are also moments when I rewrite the entire song.
💡 Important: Use ChatGPT as inspiration, but never rely blindly on its output. Be critical and make adjustments where needed!
📄 Saving Lyrics: PDF or Editable File?
ChatGPT allows you to save your lyrics as a PDF, but I recommend keeping them in an editable file (Word, Notepad).
Why?
✔️ You’ll need the text later for publication.
✔️ Suno might make you want to tweak the lyrics afterward.
✔️ An editable file prevents unnecessary extra work.
🎵 Generating a Suno Prompt with ChatGPT
The next step is to create a prompt for Suno, which determines how the music will sound. Suno can generate virtually any genre, from Polka to Death Metal.
You can request specific styles, such as:
📝 “Create a prompt for a song in the style of Bruno Mars & Lady Gaga – Die With a Smile.”
ChatGPT might generate something like:
“Funky retro pop, groovy bassline, punchy brass, electric piano, dramatic yet playful vocals, soulful energy, strong chorus hook, uplifting but with a dark undertone.”
Not everything translates perfectly into Suno, but with some experimentation, you can get very close.
💰 Is the €20 ChatGPT Plus Subscription Worth It?
The free version of ChatGPT works fine, but for serious songwriting, the Plus version (€20 per month) has a few key advantages:
🔹 1. Stronger & More Creative Writing ✍️
✅ Better rhymes & improved phrasing.
✅ More coherent lyrics.
✅ Better understanding of song structures.
🔹 2. Faster & More Reliable Output ⚡
✅ No waiting in queues – the free version slows down at peak times.
✅ Longer context memory – useful for extended sessions.
✅ Better at generating rhyming suggestions.
🔹 3. Useful If You Use AI for Other Tasks 🤖
✅ Generating Suno prompts 🎵
✅ Optimizing blog posts 📝
✅ Structuring Digital Scars ideas 🔥
When Is It NOT Worth It?
👉 If you only use ChatGPT occasionally.
But if you use AI full-time for music, it’s worth the €20 per month. 🚀🎶
Next Up: Music Generation with Suno!
This was Part 1 of From Zero to Digital Scars! In the next article, I’ll dive into Suno and how it transforms my lyrics into music. 🎸🎶
