ElevenLabs launched Instant Soundtrack, which scores video with music and sound effects

ElevenLabs has launched Instant Soundtracks, a feature that watches an uploaded video and generates both an original music score and sound effects timed to the footage in one pass. The company announced it on its blog on Oct. 15, and Korean outlets including Maeil Business and Chosunbiz covered the launch on Oct. 26.

According to ElevenLabs, the model scores the video with original music, then analyzes the footage for moments that call for a sound effect and places each one at the matching timestamp. Its example is a whoosh timed to a logo at the end of an ad. The update also brings tighter timing for short form video and mood switching across scenes, so a track might use EDM or R&B for a fast scene and switch to acoustic guitar for a calmer one.

A video's existing audio can serve as a reference. The model can analyze its genre, beats per minute or instrumentation and shape the new score to match. In the ElevenCreative Music Video Editor, sound effects sit on separate layers from the music, so users can add effects, adjust timing or swap the track without starting over.

Instant Soundtracks is available in ElevenCreative, the ElevenMusic platform and the ElevenLabs Video to Music API. The API adds three parameters: add_sfx, separate_tracks and use_audio_as_reference. With separate_tracks set to true, it returns a ZIP file with music and effects as separate files. One request can handle up to 10 videos, up to 200 MB and 10 minutes of video combined.

For developers, the API is the interesting part. Teams that generate ads, product clips or short social videos automatically can now add a scored soundtrack and synced effects as one pipeline step instead of stitching together separate music and sound effect tools. Separate stems also make it easier to mix audio downstream.

What to try: send a batch of short clips through the API with separate_tracks enabled, then check whether the effect timing holds up on fast cuts before relying on it in production. If your videos already have music, test the audio reference option to keep a consistent sound across a series.

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