Audio PromptMonster

How to write prompts for Eleven Music

Last checked 4 October 2026Not affiliated with ElevenLabs

Eleven Music takes a plain prompt or a composition plan: an ordered list of sections, each with its own length, its own styles and its own lyrics. Name the genre, mood, instruments, tempo and era, give a BPM and a key, and set things to avoid as Exclude styles. A song can run up to 10 minutes, in up to 30 sections of 3 to 120 seconds each.

What does Eleven Music read?

ElevenLabs' music model, Eleven Music, takes either a prompt or a composition plan, never both at once. A plan is an ordered list of sections, each with a length, the styles to include, the styles to exclude and its lyrics. In the web app, each section's Section styles window has Include styles and Exclude styles, which can also apply to the whole track.

WhatValueSource
Modelsmusic_v2 (the web app's default) and music_v2_5, the most advanced; music_v1 is deprecatedElevenLabs API reference, 4 October 2026
Song length3 seconds to 10 minutesElevenLabs, composition plans, 4 October 2026
Sections in a planUp to 30, each 3 to 120 secondsElevenLabs, composition plans, 4 October 2026
Prompt4,100 characters on the API; the web app states noneElevenLabs API reference, 4 October 2026
Things to avoidExclude styles in the web app, for the whole track or one section; negative_styles per section in an API planElevenLabs, Eleven Music app, 4 October 2026
LyricsYour own, or written by the model; a section's text holds up to 6,132 characters (at most 30 lines of 200 characters)ElevenLabs changelog, 14 September 2026, 4 October 2026
Inputs it refusesNames of artists or songwriters, song and album titles, and recognisable lyricsEleven Music Terms, 4 October 2026
APMonster's promptA plan in words, under 1,500 charactersAPMonster's own practice

What does ElevenLabs say a prompt should contain?

ElevenLabs' best-practice guide says to decide the genre, the mood, the instruments, the tempo and the production era, and to describe the arrangement in the order it happens. It says the model follows a BPM accurately and often gets the key, so give both, and use timing cues for when vocals come in. A longer prompt is not always a better one.

In a composition plan, the first section's styles set the tone for the whole song, and ElevenLabs suggests six or seven styles for the early sections. Styles should be written in English; lyrics can be in any language.

How does APMonster write an Eleven Music prompt?

APMonster writes Eleven Music's prompt as a plan in words: a line of overall styles first (genre, tempo as "N BPM", key, mood, instruments, voice), a line of styles to exclude, then one block per section in order, each with its label, its length in seconds and its own style words. LyrAssist writes each section's lyrics under its label. The whole prompt stays under 1,500 characters, well inside the 4,100 characters the API allows.

Eleven Music refuses a prompt that names an artist or a song, or quotes recognisable lyrics, so APMonster's prompt describes the sound instead.

How do you tell Eleven Music what to avoid?

In the web app, open a section's styles and add them under Exclude styles, for that section or the whole track. Through the API, a plan's sections each take negative styles. A plain prompt has no separate field, so ElevenLabs' guide suggests saying it in the prompt, for example "instrumental only" for no vocals. APMonster puts them on a separate "Exclude styles" line of its plan.

How does Eleven Music take song structure and lyrics?

A plan's sections are its structure: each has a length of 3 to 120 seconds, and there can be up to 30. In a section's lyrics, the section name goes in square brackets, then the lines, one per line. Directions go in braces, such as {guitar solo}, and sounds in parentheses.

APMonster works out each section's length from its bars and the song's tempo, keeps every section between 3 and 120 seconds, and gives each its own style words from the section's energy.

The example song's structure, as APMonster writes it for Eleven Music 
[Intro] (10s) style: soft, instrumental
[Verse 1] (42s) style: steady
[Chorus] (21s) style: strong
[Verse 2] (21s) style: steady
[Chorus] (21s) style: strong
[Bridge] (21s) style: soft
[Chorus] (21s) style: full force
[Outro] (10s) style: very soft, instrumental

Each line is one section: its label, its length in seconds and its styles. LyrAssist writes the lyrics that go under each label.

One brief, written for Eleven Music

Every guide on this site writes the same song for its platform. This is the shape APMonster asks for on Eleven Music; the wording of a generated prompt varies from one generation to the next.

Overall styles (the start of the prompt)
Global styles: dream pop, late-1980s shimmer, 92 BPM, A minor, wistful, hopeful, chorus-soaked electric guitar, warm analog synth pads, soft drum machine, round bass, breathy female vocal
Exclude styles
heavy distortion, trap hi-hats
Sections (the rest of the prompt; LyrAssist adds the lyrics)
[Intro] (10s) style: soft, instrumental
[Verse 1] (42s) style: steady
[Chorus] (21s) style: strong
[Verse 2] (21s) style: steady
[Chorus] (21s) style: strong
[Bridge] (21s) style: soft
[Chorus] (21s) style: full force
[Outro] (10s) style: very soft, instrumental

What changed for Eleven Music, and why

  • The brief became a plan: overall styles first, then every section with its own length and styles.
  • Each section's length comes from its bars at 92 BPM, and every one sits inside Eleven Music's 3 to 120 seconds. The song runs about 2:47.
  • The tempo and the key stayed in, as ElevenLabs advises.
  • Things to avoid went on their own "Exclude styles" line; in the web app they can also be set for one section.

Frequently asked questions

How long can an Eleven Music song be?

Up to 10 minutes, according to ElevenLabs' API reference and composition-plan guide (one older FAQ page still says 5 minutes). A plan holds up to 30 sections of 3 to 120 seconds each.

What is Eleven Music's prompt limit?

4,100 characters on the API. ElevenLabs states none for the web app. APMonster keeps its Eleven Music prompts under 1,500 characters.

Does Eleven Music have a negative prompt?

In the web app, Exclude styles, for the whole track or one section. In an API composition plan, each section takes negative styles. A plain prompt has no separate field, so say it in words.

Can I name an artist in an Eleven Music prompt?

No. ElevenLabs' music terms bar the names of artists and songwriters, song and album titles, and recognisable lyrics as inputs, and the API refuses them.

Which Eleven Music model is the newest?

music_v2_5, which ElevenLabs calls its most advanced, added to the API on 14 September 2026. music_v2 is the web app's default, and music_v1 is deprecated.

Sources