Release a song with cover art and a lyric video

1. Workflow

1. Write the lyrics and a one-paragraph brief (genre, mood, tempo, references) for the song.

   Tool

   Claude (ChatGPT or Grok work too)

   Why

   Claude is #1 on LMArena Creative Writing (score 1519 ±15, Oct 15 2026; #2 is within error). Free plan is enough for lyrics.

   Cost

   Free plan $0; Claude Pro $20/month.

   Copy prompt Paste into ChatGPT, Claude or Grok.

   Preview prompt: Suno lyrics + style prompt

   ROLE You are a songwriter and lyric editor who writes songs that work well in Suno. GOAL Help me write the lyrics, a style description and a title for one song I will generate in Suno. WHAT THE NEXT STEP NEEDS Three things I can paste straight into Suno: (a) a short style-of-music field, (b) lyrics with section tags, (c) a title. I will generate the song from these. HOW TO WORK WITH ME Do not write the deliverable yet. Interview me first. - Ask your questions ONE AT A TIME and wait for my answer before asking the next. (If I ask for speed, you may ask a short numbered batch of at most 5 questions instead.) - With every question, offer 2-3 sensible example answers or a default, so I can reply "default" or pick one. - If an answer is vague, ask one follow-up. If I don't know, choose a sensible default and tell me what you chose. - Do not generate the deliverable until I have answered every question. When you have enough, give me a 3-5 line summary of what you understood and ask me to confirm. - Do not invent facts about me, my business or my work. If something is missing, ask. QUESTIONS TO COVER (in a sensible order, skip any I already answered above) 1. What is the song about, in one or two sentences? (Example: leaving a small town; default: ask me for a topic.) 2. Genre and sub-genre, and 1-2 artists or eras it should feel like in spirit. (Example: warm indie folk, early 2010s; default: you suggest.) 3. Mood and energy, and tempo (slow / mid / fast, or a BPM if I know it). 4. Vocals: male, female, duet, or instrumental-only; language; and the point of view (I / you / we). 5. Structure and length: for example verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus, about 3 minutes. Any phrase or hook line I already have, and anything to avoid. THE DELIVERABLE (only after I confirm) 1. TITLE: one line. 2. STYLE OF MUSIC: one line of comma-separated tags (genre, mood, tempo, vocal type, 2-4 key instruments), kept under about 120 characters. Describe the sound; do not name living artists in it. 3. LYRICS: complete lyrics with section tags on their own lines in square brackets, such as [Verse 1], [Pre-Chorus], [Chorus], [Verse 2], [Bridge], [Outro]. Keep lines short and singable, with consistent syllable counts inside each section, and a chorus that repeats the hook line. No stage directions outside the brackets other than short tags like [Instrumental] where I want a break. Also give a one-sentence note on the character count of the style line. Put everything I should copy inside one clearly delimited block that starts with a line "=== COPY START ===" and ends with a line "=== COPY END ===", with no commentary inside the block. Put any notes outside it. AFTER THE DELIVERABLE Ask me: "Anything to tweak?" If I ask for changes, revise and give me the full updated block again between the same markers. Repeat until I say it is good. FINISH When I'm happy, end with one line telling me what to do next: paste the STYLE OF MUSIC line into Suno's style field, the lyrics into the lyrics box, and the title into the title field, then generate several versions (Step 2).

2. Generate the song in Suno (v6) from the lyrics and style prompt. Make several generations, keep the best, download the audio.

   Tool

   Suno

   Why

   Suno v6 is #1 on Artificial Analysis AA-Music-Vocal (Elo 1146). Paid Pro plan is what includes commercial rights and downloads.

   Cost

   Pro $8/mo billed yearly; ≈$10 billed monthly (our arithmetic). One generation = 10 credits = 2 songs.

3. Make the cover art: generate 6-10 square options from the song's mood and title, pick one, check it reads at thumbnail size.

   Tool

   ChatGPT image or Grok Imagine (Midjourney if you prefer its look)

   Why

   GPT Image 2.5 is #1 on AA Image Arena (Elo 1218); Grok Imagine Image is the cheapest priced option. Midjourney is left unpriced: its plans are metered in Fast GPU hours and images per hour is not published.

   Cost

   Grok API $0.02/image; GPT Image ≈$0.21/image (AA API figure). Midjourney Basic $10/mo, cost per image not sourced.

   Copy prompt Paste into ChatGPT, Claude or Grok.

   Preview prompt: Cover art prompts

   ROLE You are an art director who writes image prompts for album and single cover art. GOAL Help me write 6-10 cover-art prompt options for my song, so I can generate square images and pick one. WHAT THE NEXT STEP NEEDS Copy-ready prompts for an image generator (ChatGPT image, Grok Imagine or Midjourney). The art will be a square cover that must still read at thumbnail size. HOW TO WORK WITH ME Do not write the deliverable yet. Interview me first. - Ask your questions ONE AT A TIME and wait for my answer before asking the next. (If I ask for speed, you may ask a short numbered batch of at most 5 questions instead.) - With every question, offer 2-3 sensible example answers or a default, so I can reply "default" or pick one. - If an answer is vague, ask one follow-up. If I don't know, choose a sensible default and tell me what you chose. - Do not generate the deliverable until I have answered every question. When you have enough, give me a 3-5 line summary of what you understood and ask me to confirm. - Do not invent facts about me, my business or my work. If something is missing, ask. QUESTIONS TO COVER (in a sensible order, skip any I already answered above) 1. The song title, genre and mood (paste the lyrics or style line from my last step if I have them). 2. The artist or project name, and whether the text should appear on the art. (Default: no text in the image; I'll add type later. AI image text is often unreliable.) 3. Visual direction: photographic, illustration, painted, collage, 3D, minimal? Any colours, objects, places or symbols from the lyrics to use or avoid. Offer 3 directions as examples. 4. Which tool I'll paste into: ChatGPT image, Grok Imagine or Midjourney. (Default: ChatGPT image.) THE DELIVERABLE (only after I confirm) A numbered list of 6-10 prompts that differ meaningfully from each other (different subject, composition or palette), each 1-3 sentences, with square aspect ratio stated. Describe a single strong focal point, simple composition and high contrast so it reads small. If I chose Midjourney, write each as a Midjourney prompt ending with parameters such as --ar 1:1 (use only parameters you are sure Midjourney supports). Also give a short "style line" I can append to every prompt to keep the set consistent. Put everything I should copy inside one clearly delimited block that starts with a line "=== COPY START ===" and ends with a line "=== COPY END ===", with no commentary inside the block. Put any notes outside it. AFTER THE DELIVERABLE Ask me: "Anything to tweak?" If I ask for changes, revise and give me the full updated block again between the same markers. Repeat until I say it is good. FINISH When I'm happy, end with one line telling me what to do next: paste the prompts one by one into your image tool (ChatGPT image, Grok Imagine or Midjourney), pick one, and check it at thumbnail size.

4. Generate short looping visuals from the cover art (5-second clips: slow camera moves, particles, lyric-related scenes) to cut across the track.

   Tool

   Higgsfield (Wan 3.0 / Seedance) or Grok Imagine Video

   Why

   Image-to-video keeps the look of the cover. Grok Imagine Video 1.5 Lite is the cheapest priced route; Wan 3.0 ranks #1 on AA.

   Cost

   Grok Lite $0.10 per 5 s clip; Wan 3.0 ≈$1.00 per 5 s (AA 1080p). Higgsfield app credits per clip: not sourced.

   Copy prompt Paste into ChatGPT, Claude or Grok.

   Preview prompt: Looping visuals prompts

   ROLE You are a music-video director who writes shot prompts for AI video generators. GOAL Help me write 5-second looping clip prompts that I generate from my cover art and cut across my track. WHAT THE NEXT STEP NEEDS A shot-by-shot list of copy-ready prompts for an image-to-video tool (Higgsfield or Grok Imagine Video), plus one consistency block to reuse in every prompt. HOW TO WORK WITH ME Do not write the deliverable yet. Interview me first. - Ask your questions ONE AT A TIME and wait for my answer before asking the next. (If I ask for speed, you may ask a short numbered batch of at most 5 questions instead.) - With every question, offer 2-3 sensible example answers or a default, so I can reply "default" or pick one. - If an answer is vague, ask one follow-up. If I don't know, choose a sensible default and tell me what you chose. - Do not generate the deliverable until I have answered every question. When you have enough, give me a 3-5 line summary of what you understood and ask me to confirm. - Do not invent facts about me, my business or my work. If something is missing, ask. QUESTIONS TO COVER (in a sensible order, skip any I already answered above) 1. Paste or describe the cover art (subject, colours, style) and the song's mood. 2. Any lyric moments I want visualised (up to 5), or default: you pick from the lyrics if I paste them. 3. Camera and motion preference: slow push-in, drift, parallax, particles, handheld? Anything that must not move or change. 4. How many clips I want (default 6) and aspect ratio (default 16:9; I may also export 9:16). 5. Which video tool I'll use: Higgsfield or Grok Imagine Video. THE DELIVERABLE (only after I confirm) First a CONSISTENCY BLOCK: 2-4 sentences describing the look, palette, lighting and texture that stay identical in every clip, to be pasted at the start of every prompt. Then SHOTS: for each clip give Shot number, duration (5 seconds), aspect ratio, camera (angle, lens feel, movement), subject and action, lighting, motion details, and a "keep unchanged" line that tells the tool to preserve the cover art's look. Write each shot as one paragraph prompt ready to paste (consistency block included), and say these are for image-to-video using my cover art as the first frame. End each with a note of how it could loop (for example, start and end on a similar frame). Put everything I should copy inside one clearly delimited block that starts with a line "=== COPY START ===" and ends with a line "=== COPY END ===", with no commentary inside the block. Put any notes outside it. AFTER THE DELIVERABLE Ask me: "Anything to tweak?" If I ask for changes, revise and give me the full updated block again between the same markers. Repeat until I say it is good. FINISH When I'm happy, end with one line telling me what to do next: upload the cover art as the first frame in Higgsfield or Grok Imagine Video, paste one shot prompt per generation, keep the best take, then move to the editor.

5. Build the lyric video: put the lyrics on screen as timed text over the visuals, cut footage to the audio, export 16:9 and 9:16.

   Tool

   A video editor (e.g. CapCut, Clipchamp; not one of our tools)

   Why

   None of our six tools times lyrics to audio. Claude can also generate a text-animation lyric video through code, per a creator post (see learn list).

   Cost

   cost not sourced (we did not price an editor).

6. Check rights and metadata: confirm your Suno plan covers commercial release, write title/credits, export WAV/MP3 and artwork at the sizes your distributor asks for.

   Tool

   Suno (plan terms) + Claude (checklist)

   Why

   Free-plan Suno songs have no commercial rights; the rights come from the plan you generated on.

   Cost

   $0 beyond the plan.

7. Upload song, cover art and lyric video to a distributor and to YouTube, schedule the release date.

   Tool

   A music distributor + YouTube (not our tools)

   Why

   Needed to reach streaming services; we have not priced distributors.

   Cost

   cost not sourced.

2. Recommended tool chain

1. Claude (ChatGPT or Grok work too)
2. Suno
3. ChatGPT image or Grok Imagine (Midjourney if you prefer its look)
4. Higgsfield (Wan 3.0 / Seedance) or Grok Imagine Video
5. A video editor (e.g. CapCut, Clipchamp; not one of our tools)
6. Suno (plan terms) + Claude (checklist)
7. A music distributor + YouTube (not our tools)

3. Total cost

Unpriced items are left out of the total (marked “cost not sourced”), so the real total is higher. All totals are our arithmetic from sourced unit prices.

4. Current promos

• Suno annual billing: save 20%

  Suno's pricing page shows a 'save 20%' option for yearly billing on Pro and Premier. Standing discount, not a time-limited sale.

  Applies to: Suno Pro steps (standing 20% saving for yearly billing; our prices use monthly billing for a one-month project)

  Start = first archive snapshot with readable text; earlier snapshots show no readable pricing, so it may be older.

  Source: suno.com/pricing (Wayback 2025-09-01), checked Oct 15, 2026

• Claude Pro annual billing: $17/month vs $20 monthly

  Anthropic's pricing page lists Pro at $17/month with annual billing ($200 up front) versus $20/month billed monthly. This is a standing discount, not a limited-time sale.

  Applies to: Claude Pro on the best-quality route ($17/month billed annually vs $20 monthly)

  Start = first archive snapshot where the pricing text is readable (earlier snapshots are not readable, so the discount may be older). Standing, no end date.

  Source: Anthropic: Claude pricing (live, fetched 2026-10-15), checked Oct 15, 2026

• Wan 3.0: free week of unlimited use on Pro and above; 60% off API (ends Oct 31, 2026)

  Subscribers on individual plans from Pro and above get 7 days of unlimited Wan 3.0 and Wan 3.0 Prime; API users get 60% off the model until Oct 31, 2026.

  Applies to: Video-generation steps that use Wan 3.0 on Higgsfield (subscriber window and API 60% off to Oct 31)

  Oct 31 is the stated end of the API discount; the changelog does not give an end date for the 7-day subscriber window.

  Source: Higgsfield changelog: 'Unlimited Wan 3.0 for 7 days and 60% off on the API' (Oct 13, 2026), checked Oct 15, 2026

• The X Subscription: Grok, Cursor and X Premium in one plan

  xAI's new plan bundles Grok, Grok Bot, Cursor and X Premium: Premium is $30/month for what it says was $90/month combined (SuperGrok + Cursor Pro + X Premium+). Existing subscribers can keep their plan or switch, with limited-time switching offers shown in billing settings.

  Applies to: Only if you use Grok through a consumer plan; our routes use the xAI API unit prices

  The xAI page shows no visible date; the 2026-10-13 start comes from the TechCrunch URL date. The switching offers' terms are not public.

  Source: xAI: Introducing The X Subscription (live, fetched 2026-10-15), checked Oct 15, 2026

• ChatGPT Plus: 4 free months for US college students (Back to School 2026) (ends Oct 31, 2026)

  Eligible US college and graduate students get four free monthly billing periods of ChatGPT Plus if they claim by October 31, 2026. It renews at $20/month unless cancelled.

  Applies to: Only if you use ChatGPT plans and qualify as a US college student; claim by Oct 31, 2026

  Start = first archive snapshot of the 2026 offer page; the offer may have opened earlier. End date is the claim-by deadline (the free months run after claiming).

  Source: OpenAI Help Center: ChatGPT Back to School offer for students (live, fetched 2026-10-15), checked Oct 15, 2026

• Midjourney annual plan: 20% off

  Midjourney's plan comparison page says you can get a 20% discount by committing to an annual plan, paying the full year up front. Standing discount.

  Applies to: Midjourney steps (standing 20% saving for yearly billing)

  Start = first archive snapshot found; the discount may be older.

  Source: Midjourney docs (Wayback 2025-02-15): Comparing Midjourney Plans, checked Oct 15, 2026

5. Learn it

Last verified Oct 15, 2026. Items older than 30 days are marked.

6. Caveats and assumptions

• Suno song length is not stated on the pages we read; check that one generation covers your song.
• Suno's Black Friday page (suno.com/hub/suno-black-friday-deals, claims 40% off Nov 24-Dec 1) contradicts itself and is unverified; we do not list it as a promo.
• AA music ranking covers songs with vocals only.
• Lyric-video text timing and distribution costs are not sourced.
• Playbook costs are our arithmetic from sourced unit prices, not quotes; prices change. Subscription lines are one month unless stated.
• Video and post relevance was judged from titles and descriptions; we confirmed title, creator and publish date on the live page, not the full content.

Last verified Oct 15, 2026.