Have you noticed how many more AI mastering services have appeared lately?

Sometimes even music distributors practically push their own “sound enhancement” services right before you release a song.

The question is simple: is this actually a useful service, and is it worth your time and money?

In a few words – usually not. For highly static EDM mixes produced on an assembly line – maybe.

We could end it there. Thanks, everyone. Book your mastering with me. See you!

Or perhaps we should take a closer look:

How do many AI mastering algorithms currently work?

To put it very simply, the model analyzes a huge amount of commercially released music, receives some additional human-guided training, and forms an averaged idea of what “high-quality commercial sound” is supposed to be. It then tries to bring your song closer to that target.

Yes, technically, the result will be unique for every song. However, the underlying process remains the same – the algorithm determines which parameters should be applied to make the source material resemble its averaged idea of a “good” finished master.

In my opinion, this is not such a major step forward from the automatic settings in iZotope Ozone, which existed long before the widespread adoption of neural networks.

So, in which situations can it actually work?

It can work with very linear tracks, particularly in electronic genres such as techno, house, and similar styles, where the composition is built around a single beat or loop without many events, abrupt transitions, or complex dynamics.

When the goal is simply to achieve loud, consistent, and commercially comparable sound, AI mastering can produce a decent result.

For example, I have received similar projects for mastering that were created in Suno or processed through automated mastering platforms such as LANDR and similar services. Honestly, some of them sounded perfectly decent. There was still room for manual improvement, but even in that state, they sounded much better than most home masters made on three-inch speakers.

However, in more conventional song-based genres, especially those involving acoustic instruments, AI mastering currently tends to make things worse.

Yes, everything starts to sound bright, loud, and wide – and incredibly flat. In practice, this type of sound is increasingly becoming a sign of poor taste rather than quality work, much like generating AI artwork for your album cover.

It is also worth mentioning Colin Leonard’s unusual automated mastering service, Aria Mastering. It uses real analog equipment and a robotic system that physically turns the controls on the hardware. It sounds impressive, and as a promotional concept, it certainly attracts attention.

But does the mere presence of analog equipment solve all the problems mentioned above?

I do not think so.

In fact, in my opinion, this approach limits the processing possibilities even further.

At the very least, it effectively eliminates any kind of automation. This means that the song is essentially processed using one fixed set of parameters based on predetermined average settings for those particular pieces of analog equipment.

In my opinion, this has very little to do with modern mastering.

Anyone who has watched my mastering video – https://youtu.be/7kkTiG4uHrw?si=BpFpJ6iADX6DcgEL – may remember that even with relatively static indie songs, I usually have between two and seven automation moves per track. That is because the verse and chorus may require different decisions. The intro, outro, solo sections, and transitions often need their own adjustments as well.

With more complex commercial arrangements, the number of automation moves can easily exceed ten.

Modern mastering tools allow us to work with a track in an extremely careful and detailed way. Many of these tools would have looked like magic just ten years ago. Honestly, it seems strange not to use them and instead settle for one averaged preset applied across the entire song.

So my conclusion is this: AI mastering is an interesting technology. It will undoubtedly improve over time and will certainly find its place in the industry. However, in my opinion, we are not there yet.

So, for now, we keep working.

And if you need professional mastering, I would be happy to help.

More information is available on our studio page:
https://moonveil-studios.com/services/mastering/