Google has rolled out Lyria 3 Pro, a significant upgrade to its AI music generation platform that lets users create full tracks up to three minutes long—six times longer than the 30-second clips from the base Lyria 3 model launched in February 2026.
A More Intelligent Creativity
The new Pro tier introduces “structural awareness,” allowing the AI to better follow musical composition logic. Users can now prompt for specific elements like intros, verses, choruses, and bridges, giving creators more precise control over the final output. Google positions this as a practical tool for everyday content: think personalized soundtracks for vlogs, podcasts, tutorial videos, or even marketing clips.
“Lyria 3 Pro’s enhanced customization offers more space to experiment and play with longer tracks. So now, you can add more details to bring your full vision to life,” the company stated in its announcement.
Beyond the Gemini app (where Pro access is limited to paid Google AI subscribers with daily track limits), the model is embedding into Google Vids, the company’s AI-powered video editor. This integration lets users generate custom music that matches their video’s vibe and timing, rolling out first to Google Workspace and Google AI Pro/Ultra users.
On the developer and enterprise side, Lyria 3 Pro is now available in public preview via Vertex AI (targeted at gaming studios and video platforms needing custom soundtracks at scale) and through Google AI Studio and the Gemini API. Google has also folded in capabilities from ProducerAI (the former Riffusion, acquired earlier this year) to expand full-song creation options.
Guardrails And The Copyright Elephant In The Room
Google is careful with its language around training data. It insists Lyria 3 and Lyria 3 Pro were built using “materials that YouTube and Google has a right to use under our terms of service, partner agreements, and applicable law.” All generated outputs carry SynthID watermarks, and the company applies filters to avoid direct mimicry of existing artists or copyrighted works. If a prompt names a specific creator, the model treats it as “broad inspiration” only.
Still, the timing of the Pro launch—barely a month after Lyria 3 debuted—comes with fresh controversy. On March 6, 2026, a group of independent musicians and songwriters filed a 118-page proposed class-action lawsuit against Google in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
The plaintiffs, including New York singer-songwriter Sam Kogon and several artists who previously sued Udio and Suno, accuse Google of training Lyria 3 on millions of copyrighted sound recordings, compositions, and lyrics scraped from YouTube—specifically citing research papers that reference 44 million 30-second clips (nearly 370,000 hours) and another 280,000 hours of audio, without licenses or compensation.
Google’s “Perspective”
The suit highlights Google’s unique position: it doesn’t just build the AI tool; it owns YouTube and operates Content ID, the very system artists rely on to protect and monetize their work. Lawyers argue Google had “every opportunity” to clear rights properly given its infrastructure, resources, and existing database of over 50 million licensed reference files from rights holders.
The claims include copyright infringement, removal of copyright management information, and even Illinois biometric privacy violations related to voiceprint extraction. Google has not yet publicly commented on the lawsuit.
This isn’t the first friction. Earlier reports noted Google’s past experiments with copyrighted material, followed by licensing talks (including a deal with Universal Music Group that included “guardrails” for artists). Meanwhile, several former Google DeepMind researchers left to found Udio, which itself faced major-label lawsuits before settling with some.
Musician Feedback And The Bigger Picture
Google has tried to engage the creative community. It runs the Music AI Sandbox program, giving selected musicians and producers early access in exchange for feedback. Grammy-winning producer Yung Spielburg used an earlier Lyria version for a DeepMind short film score, while veteran DJ and producer François K described the tool as “incredible” in fidelity and musicality—though he emphasized it’s part of an iterative creative process, not a one-click magic button.
“Having explored the vast landscape of music tools, the progress on Lyria 3 is incredible, especially the fidelity and musicality,” François K said. “The fashion in which I use generative AI tools never boils down to ‘one-button-click’ prompting. Instead it’s becoming a versatile part of my arsenal.”
What This Means For Creators
On one hand, Lyria 3 Pro lowers the barrier for quick, customized music in video and social content. It could genuinely help independent creators who can’t afford traditional royalty-free libraries like Epidemic Sound or don’t want generic stock tracks.
On the other, the lawsuit underscores ongoing tensions in the AI-music space: the line between “inspiration” and unauthorized use, the power imbalance between tech giants and independent artists, and whether “responsible development” claims hold up when training data questions linger.
As Google pushes longer, more structured AI-generated music into more of its products, the industry will be watching closely—both for the creative possibilities and for how the legal challenges unfold. For now, the tool is here, watermarked and filtered, but the underlying debate about fair use, consent, and compensation in AI training is far from settled.
