AI film scoring tools, compared
Published October 2026
Scoring a film means music that follows the cut: it starts and stops where the picture wants it, hits the cuts, sits under the dialogue and arrives as files an editor can use. Many AI music tools now take a video. They differ in whether they read the cut, whether they can play notes you wrote, what files they return and whether an agent can drive them. This page compares them on those points, using each vendor's own documentation as read on October 29, 2026. Doseedo is one of the tools compared, and the page says where it is the wrong choice.
What scoring a cut needs
- Read the cut. Where the cuts are, to the frame, in the film's timecode, and where the dialogue is.
- Hit the picture. Accents and changes that land on the cuts and the story beats, not just music of the right length.
- Your music, or a generated one. Some tools write the music from a prompt. Others perform notes that you, or your agent, wrote.
- Files an editor can use. Stems per instrument, a session for a DAW, and the music laid on the picture at a delivery loudness.
- Agent access. An API or an MCP server, so an AI agent can run the loop without a person clicking through it.
- Rights. Whether film and TV use is allowed on the plan you are on.
Tools that take a video
| Tool | Reads the video | Lands on the cuts | Plays notes you wrote | Stems | MCP server | Film and TV use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doseedo | Yes, up to 3 hours: a cue sheet from every frame and the soundtrack | Yes: hit points on downbeats, frame-exact cuts, SMPTE timecode | Yes: note lists, MIDI or MusicXML | One per part, up to 32 per call | Yes, hosted | You own the output (Terms §6.3) |
| ElevenLabs Music | Yes, up to 10 minutes (video-to-music) | Not claimed | No: a prompt or a section plan | Music and effects as two files | Yes, the official open-source server | Needs an Enterprise Music licence |
| Sonilo | Yes, up to 30 minutes | Claimed; the method is not documented | No | Drums, bass, vocals, other | Yes, official | On the Premium plan |
| Mubert Fuse | Yes: follows the clip's length, mood and tempo | Not claimed | No | On the Custom plan | Yes, official (the API) | Commercial use from the Lite plan |
| Adobe Firefly Generate Music | Yes: reads the footage's tone | Not stated | No | Not stated | No API stated | Described as commercially safe |
Google's Lyria, in the Gemini API, takes text and images but not video.
Tools that make music from a prompt
| Tool | Input | Output | API or MCP | Rights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suno | A prompt or an audio upload | A mix, split into up to 12 stems after generation on paid plans | No public API; a partner program was announced in July 2026 | Commercial use on paid plans, per permitted download |
| Udio | A prompt | Downloads were switched off in October 2025 | No official API | A relaunch was announced |
| Stable Audio 3 | A prompt, or audio to continue or inpaint | Audio | Open weights for the smaller models; the large one by API | You own the output; over $1M in revenue needs an enterprise licence |
| AIVA | Presets, or an audio or MIDI influence | MP3 and MIDI | No API listed | You own it on the Pro plan |
| Soundraw, Beatoven | Genre, mood and length, or a prompt | A track plus four or five stem groups | An API; no MCP found | Commercial use on paid plans |
None of these reads a cut. They make a track of the right length and mood, which an editor then places and trims.
Tools that play notes you wrote
If the music is already written, or an agent writes it, the question is what performs it.
- Notation playback. MuseScore 4 with Muse Sounds, and Dorico, Sibelius or Finale with NotePerformer, play a score on sample libraries on your computer. Community MCP servers exist for MuseScore and Dorico; the MuseScore one edits the score and exports audio through the app. They do not read a video.
- DAW control over MCP. Community servers drive a DAW running on your machine:
ableton-mcpcreates tracks, clips and notes in Ableton Live; REAPER servers add rendering and stem export; Logic Pro servers send notes through MIDI and accessibility. The sound is whatever instruments you have installed, and none of them spots a video. - Doseedo.
doseedo_render_scoreplays every part on an AI instrument model on its servers, one stem per part, and returns a receipt saying whether each part played its notes. Nothing needs to be installed, and the same connection spots the video and delivers the score on it.
Tools that read a video but do not make the music
- AINSOF has an MCP server that analyzes a video's cuts and pacing and writes a cue sheet, then picks and fits music from a catalogue composed by people. Licensed library music, not generated.
- Spotter, an open-source MCP server, writes a cue sheet with timecodes from a video's frames and fills it with sound effects from ElevenLabs or Freesound. Effects, not music.
When Doseedo is the wrong choice
- You want a finished track from one sentence. Doseedo does not compose. The agent writes every note, so a prompt-to-music tool is faster for a quick bed.
- You own sample libraries and a DAW you like. A DAW-control MCP server or notation playback performs on your own instruments. Doseedo's instruments are AI models, with measured receipts rather than recorded samples.
- You need music composed by people, licensed from a catalogue. That is what a library such as AINSOF sells.
- You need vocals. Doseedo's scores are instrumental only.
When it is the right one
- The agent writes the score, or you do, and it has to follow this cut: the cue sheet comes from every frame, and the hit points land on downbeats in the film's timecode, drop-frame included.
- You need every part as its own stem, a Logic Pro or Ableton Live session, and the score delivered on the picture: ducked under the dialogue, normalized to a delivery loudness, with a report of what was measured.
- An agent has to run it, end to end, over one MCP connection. Here is one film scored that way, with every call and receipt, and the guide shows each request.
Sources
Every fact about another product comes from its own documentation, pricing, terms or code, read on October 29, 2026. Where a vendor claims something without saying how it works, this page says so. Products in this field change quickly; corrections are welcome at [email protected].
- ElevenLabs: video to music, compose, music terms, MCP server
- Sonilo: sonilo.com, MCP server
- Mubert: Fuse, API
- Adobe: Firefly Generate Music
- Google: Lyria in the Gemini API
- Suno: pricing, terms
- Stability AI: Stable Audio 3
- AIVA: pricing. Soundraw: pricing. Beatoven: API
- MuseScore: command line. NotePerformer: noteperformer.com
- MCP servers: ableton-mcp, logic-pro-mcp, mcp-score, AINSOF, Spotter
Try the whole loop on your own cut
Connect the Doseedo MCP server and ask your agent to spot a video, write the cues and deliver the scored film.
The film-scoring guide →FAQ
What is the best AI tool for scoring a film?
It depends on who writes the music. For a finished track from a prompt, a video-to-music generator such as ElevenLabs, Sonilo or Mubert Fuse is quickest. For a score that an agent or a composer writes and that has to hit the cuts, Doseedo spots the video, plays every part and delivers the score on the picture. For music performed on your own sample libraries, use notation playback or a DAW.
Is there an MCP server for film scoring?
Yes, several, doing different things. Doseedo spots a video, plays the parts an agent writes and lays the score on the picture. ElevenLabs and Sonilo generate music from a video. AINSOF fits catalogue music to a video, and Spotter places sound effects.
Can ElevenLabs score a video?
Its video-to-music endpoint takes a video of up to 10 minutes and returns generated music, with an option for sound effects. Its documentation does not claim that the music lands on the cuts, and film and TV use needs an Enterprise Music licence.
Can an AI play a score I wrote?
Yes. Notation playback such as MuseScore with Muse Sounds or NotePerformer plays it on sample libraries on your computer, a DAW plays it on your installed instruments, and Doseedo's doseedo_render_score plays it on AI instrument models on its servers, one stem per part.
Who owns music made with these tools?
It differs by product and plan: some give you ownership on paid plans only, some license rather than assign, and some exclude film and TV on lower plans. Doseedo's Terms give you ownership of what you create, to the extent the law allows. Read each vendor's terms for the plan you use.
The Doseedo MCP server · one URL, every client
- Logic Proedits written into your project
- Ableton Livebuild, read, convert .als
- FL Studioread, convert .flp
- Pro Toolsmove .ptx between DAWs
- REAPERread, edit, convert .rpp
- Studio Oneread .song, write .dawproject
- Cubaseread .cpr, write .dawproject
- Bitwig Studio.dawproject both ways
- GarageBandread .band, export MIDI
- Any AI agentwhat works today
- Claude & Claude Codephone, desktop, terminal
- ChatGPTas a custom MCP server
- Cursormcp.json, one entry
- Gemini CLIgemini mcp add
- OpenAI Codexcodex mcp add
- VS Code Copilotmcp.json, type http
- All 45 toolsthe reference
- Convert projectsten DAW formats, 75 directions
- Separate stemsvocals, drums, bass, more
- Audio to MIDItranscription, chords, key
- Generate musicsongs, parts, covers
- Render MIDIyour notes, 50+ AI instruments
- Custom instrumentstrained from a recording
- Sound effectshits, loops, textures
- Score a filmcut in, scored video out
- A film, scoredBig Buck Bunny, every call
- Film scoring tools comparedsourced, honest
- Bounce offlinethrough real plugins
- Swap a drum packaudio stays local