The news: OpenAI will reportedly expand its portfolio to include genAI music tools, per The Information. The company is said to be collecting data, such as annotated music scores, from Juilliard School students to develop and refine upcoming music-generation tools.

The tool would be able to generate music from text and audio prompts, such as adding instrumentals to an existing audio track or scoring videos.

Why it matters: If OpenAI becomes a strong genAI music provider, it could expand use cases for advertisers and democratize music production for smaller brands. It could also make Sora a more full-service creation platform, letting brands produce ad videos with original soundtracks.

Zooming out: OpenAI continues to evolve into a multidimensional brand that goes beyond chat and productivity tools. While the company faces competition from Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini in conversational AI—and from Chrome and Edge with its new Atlas browser—entering the genAI music space would introduce new rivals like Suno, Udio, and ElevenLabs.

OpenAI’s musical history:

• ChatGPT currently offers text tools and support for music creation—such as writing lyrics or designing chord progressions—but it doesn’t generate audio.
• OpenAI previously explored music generation with its MuseNet (2019) and Jukebox (2020) models, though neither is integrated into ChatGPT.

The opportunity: OpenAI could face less risk of overextension than some of its tech peers since its ecosystem centers on a single, adaptable product—ChatGPT. This could position it as a one-stop shop for retail, search, content discovery, video, and now, potentially, music generation.

The risk: Stronger genAI music-creation tools, such as one from OpenAI, could lead brands to shift more content creation in-house, bypassing ad agencies.

• Nearly half (49%) of senior marketing executives in North America and Europe who use ad agencies still rely on them for content creation, per 10Fold, but that could change as multimedia genAI tools mature.
• 83% of marketing leaders would reduce agency spending if content creation could be fully automated, per Typeface, and 11% would stop using agencies entirely.

What marketers should do: OpenAI’s potential foray into generative music is a sign that AI-driven creativity is expanding well beyond text and images.

CMOs should assess their tech infrastructure to ensure that teams have the skills and systems to integrate new AI tools smoothly. Maintain agency relationships amid AI-generated audio experimentation to keep human creativity in the loop and retain oversight as AI adoption heats up.