ElevenLabs Music v2.5: full songs and five free lossless downloads a day
ElevenLabs Music v2.5 is ElevenLabs' music generation model, built to compose complete songs, vocals and instruments included, from a written description. It replaced Music v2 as the default in ElevenMusic on September 11, 2026. The Free plan comes with 5 lossless downloads a day, usable commercially with an ElevenMusic credit. Paid tiers add a full commercial license and bigger credit pools.
- Noticeably more natural instruments and vocals than Music v2
- Lossless downloads included on the Free plan
- Trained on licensed catalogs via Kobalt and Merlin
- Music v2 stays available alongside it
- Runs in Studio, Flows and the API
- Credits go fast on longer tracks
- No prompts naming existing artists or songs
- Smaller community than Suno's for now
Music v2.5 versus Music v2, judged over 47,885 blind listens
Across 47,885 pairs of tracks generated from the same prompt, Music v2.5 was the preferred take in the majority of blind listens. The gap widens on vocal-led and acoustic-heavy genres, R&B, soul, hip hop, rock, metal and orchestral music, precisely where generative audio used to stumble.
You type a soul ballad with horns, and the song holds together from the first verse to the final chorus. If you miss the v2 sound, it stays online, while Suno retired its older models the day Suno v6 shipped. The release also stirred up the crowded field of AI music generators, landing between Suno v6 and Google's Lyria 3.5.
Rights that stay with the track, not the subscription
Permissions granted at generation time stay attached to the track, even after you cancel or downgrade. On the Free plan, commercial use requires an ElevenMusic credit. The full commercial license kicks in from $6 a month, and the Pro plan climbs to 400 lossless downloads per month. These figures shift over time, so treat the ElevenLabs pricing page as the final word.
The model was trained on licensed music and stems, through deals with Kobalt and the independent label network Merlin. The multi-year agreement signed with Universal Music Group is a separate project (no UMG artist material in the training data, the company says). A few guardrails remain in place.
- No prompts citing an existing artist or song title
- Downloads blocked on tracks derived from someone else's song
- Uploaded audio references screened for copyright
From the web studio to the API, where ElevenLabs Music v2.5 runs
ElevenMusic in the browser, ElevenCreative for marketing teams, Studio to score a video, Flows to chain generations in a row, and the API under the model_id music_v2_5, the model slips into every corner of the platform.
Everything from v2 carries over, section-by-section composition plans, fixing one passage without regenerating the rest, Audio Reference to steer the style with a short clip, and Finetunes to train a custom variant of the model on your own tracks.
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Track length | 3 seconds to 5 minutes |
| Export formats | MP3 (44.1 kHz) and lossless WAV |
| Audio reference | Clip of roughly 30 seconds |
| Free plan downloads | 5 lossless per day |
| API identifier | music_v2_5 |
Frequently asked questions
Is ElevenLabs Music free?
Yes, the Free plan lets you generate songs and download 5 of them per day in lossless quality, with commercial use permitted as long as you credit ElevenMusic. Paid tiers widen the credit pool and drop the mandatory attribution.
Is ElevenLabs Music v2.5 better than Suno?
On sung and acoustic genres, v2.5 scored clear wins over its predecessor, and its licensed training data reassures professional buyers. Suno v6 keeps a bigger community and fast output, but retired its older models overnight, while ElevenLabs keeps Music v2 online.
Can you use the tracks in a monetized YouTube video?
Absolutely, the generated music is cleared for nearly all commercial purposes, from film and TV to podcasts, ads and gaming. On the Free plan you must credit ElevenMusic, and rights granted at creation stay valid even if you later change plans.
Was Music v2.5 trained on Universal's catalog?
No, ElevenLabs states that its Universal Music Group agreement is separate from this model and that no UMG artist music went into training. The model relies on licensed tracks and stems covered by the Kobalt and Merlin deals.
Verdict: To score an ad, a game or a podcast without sweating the rights question, this model fed on licensed music starts ahead of the pack; video makers, studios and brands get an engine calibrated for production, and the curious get five free tracks a day to train their ear.
