Styles: Create Music with a Reference Track
💲 The "Styles" feature is available only for Pro subscribers.
Ever struggle to describe the song in your head? Meet Styles - a brand new feature that allows you to create new songs using an existing song or audio clip as a style reference. Rather than wrestling with text prompts to try to capture a vibe, now you can simply show Udio exactly what you’re looking for.
What is Styles?
Styles is a powerful tool that lets you shape a song’s vibe using another track as inspiration. Instead of just describing your sound in words, you can show Udio exactly what you're looking for. It works with Remix and Extend to refine or evolve your music in new ways.
How to Use Styles
Go to Create and select Use Style Reference.
Pick a reference song from the library or upload your own.
⚠️ You can only use music you own or have permission to use.
Select a key 32-second section that best represents the style.
Adjust Style Similarity.
Higher values keep your new song closer to the reference.
Lower values allow more creative variations.
Add lyrics or make it instrumental.
Choose your song length in Advanced Settings.
(Optional) Add a Style Guide prompt.
💡Keep it relevant to your reference track.
💡Styles works great with no text prompt - start with just audio!
(Optional) Adjust other advanced settings.
Click Create and let the magic happen!
Best Practices for Styles
Skip the text prompt - Styles works best when it’s purely audio-based.
Experiment with similarity levels - higher isn’t always better, just different.
Combine “Remix” + “Style” to merge two musical styles.
Use “Extend” + “Style” to transition between styles in one track.
Provide at least 32 seconds of reference audio for the best results.
FAQ
How is it different from Audio Upload?
Audio upload allows you to use your own music as a source with our existing features that expand on a song: Remix, Extend, and Edit. Styles functions more like an audio prompt, helping guide the musical output, but is not directly operated on in the generation and can be used with any creation feature.
Can multiple styles be used in a song (e.g., one per generation)?
You can only use a single style reference per generation currently, but you can start a song with one style and then extend with a new style reference.
Can Styled songs be published?
The same rules apply as for normal generations – any song using a Udio song for a style reference can still be published, but songs created from an uploaded style or derived from a song made with an uploaded style cannot be.
Can non-music be uploaded, e.g., sirens, clapping, rubber ducky squeaks?
You can upload non-music, but it will likely influence the outputs to be more experimental or ‘non-music’ if you want to push the boundaries to be closer to sound design.
Can uploaded clips be re-used?
No, not at this time; they’re ephemeral and just used at the time for the associated song. To re-use the same clip, it’s necessary to re-upload it.
Can copyrighted music be used with Styles?
Only if you are the owner of the copyrighted material. When you upload an audio clip, you must confirm that you own and have the rights to use the audio in your file.
Can Styles be used with v1.5 Allegro?
Not yet! Styles is being released today as an early version; we’ll continue to be working on this and hope to enable Allegro with Styles soon.
Why does the output not sound like the uploaded clip?
Try to ensure that your text prompt makes sense in combination with your uploaded clip. When you provide inputs like genre, instruments, mood etc. that are significantly different from the audio clip you’ve uploaded, you can get unexpected results. Try tweaking your inputs and/or using a different section of audio to get what you want.
Dive in, experiment, and see how Styles can transform your sound!