AudioCraft (MusicGen)
Meta’s library for MusicGen music generation and AudioGen sound effects.
- Stars
- 23.7K
- Forks
- 2.7K
- Open issues
- 401
- Last commit
- 2026-03-03
Live from the GitHub API · updated 2026-10-15
What is AudioCraft (MusicGen)?
AudioCraft contains MusicGen (text- and melody-conditioned music generation), AudioGen (sound effects) and the EnCodec codec, with a Gradio demo and training code.
Key features
- Text-to-music with MusicGen
- Melody conditioning
- Sound effects with AudioGen
- Training code
System requirements
- Platforms
- Linux · Windows · macOS
- GPU
- NVIDIA recommended
- VRAM
- 16 GB for the large model; smaller models need less
- Python
- 3.9
How to install AudioCraft (MusicGen)
Summarized from the project’s README. Projects change quickly — check the GitHub page for the latest instructions.
pip
- 1Install PyTorch 2.1+, ffmpeg, then AudioCraft.
python -m pip install -U audiocraft - 2Run the MusicGen demo (from a clone of the repo).
python -m demos.musicgen_app --share
Strengths
- Solid open music generation
- Research-grade toolkit
Limitations
- Model weights are CC-BY-NC
- Short clips
AudioCraft (MusicGen) alternatives compared
| Software | Stars | License | Platforms | VRAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AudioCraft (MusicGen) Meta’s library for MusicGen music generation and AudioGen sound effects. | 23.7K | MIT | 16 GB for the large model; smaller models need less | |
| Stable Audio Tools Training and inference code for Stable Audio Open. | 3.9K | MIT | — | |
| Bark Suno’s generative audio model: speech, music snippets and sound effects. | 39.3K | MIT | ~12 GB full; ~8 GB with small models | |
| Whisper OpenAI’s open-source speech recognition and translation model. | 110.5K | MIT | ~1 GB (tiny) to ~10 GB (large) | |
| whisper.cpp Whisper in plain C/C++ — fast on CPUs, Apple Silicon and mobile. | 54.4K | MIT | — | |
| faster-whisper Whisper reimplemented on CTranslate2 — up to 4× faster with less memory. | 25.9K | MIT | — |
FAQ
Is AudioCraft (MusicGen) free?
Yes — AudioCraft (MusicGen) is open-source software released under the MIT license. Check the license (and any model weight licenses) before commercial use.
Does AudioCraft (MusicGen) run on Windows, Mac and Linux?
AudioCraft (MusicGen) supports: Linux, Windows, macOS.
What hardware do I need for AudioCraft (MusicGen)?
NVIDIA recommended. VRAM: 16 GB for the large model; smaller models need less
How do I install AudioCraft (MusicGen)?
1. Install PyTorch 2.1+, ffmpeg, then AudioCraft. 2. Run the MusicGen demo (from a clone of the repo).
What are the best AudioCraft (MusicGen) alternatives?
Popular alternatives include Stable Audio Tools, Bark, Whisper, whisper.cpp. See the comparison table on this page.