Music + AI
Juno Grey
I ranked 300+ pop stars by cultural staying power -- then used AI to turn the algorithm into a recording artist.
300+
Artists Analyzed
The Greylist
Debut Album
$16.97
Total Cost
4
Streaming Platforms
The Greylist — Juno Grey
Open in Spotify →Listen Everywhere
Music Videos
Velvet Static
3:22 · 74% AI-generated · Adobe Firefly + Sora + Pexels · ~10 hours
Used to Miss You
Animated · 100% Sora-generated · Free Sora app · 4-12 second clips
How I Built a Pop Star from a Spreadsheet
1
Data
Build the Index
What actually makes a pop star last? Not who's biggest right now, but who endures. I built the Pop Star Iconicity Index — a scoring model that ranked 300+ artists across four dimensions: ChartScore, SpotifyScore, TikTokScore, and IGScore.
Top 5 — Pop Star Iconicity Index
| Artist | Chart | Spotify | TikTok | IG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taylor Swift | 66.7 | 100 | 35.4 | 71.2 |
| BTS | 100 | 0 | 100 | 3.1 |
| The Weeknd | 50 | 93.6 | 0 | 0 |
| Billie Eilish | 0 | 87.3 | 98.3 | 18.4 |
| Ariana Grande | 66.7 | 32.5 | 45.4 | 100 |
2
Analysis
Find the Patterns
I spun up a ChatGPT o1 Deep Research query to analyze what the top-scoring artists share — the creative patterns that separate icons from one-hit wonders. It identified the target archetype: “solo female voice only. Female pop star like Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, and Taylor Swift. Alt-pop with indie and synth-pop influences.”
3
Identity
Design the Artist
I used the archetype patterns to generate AI visual prototypes, then ran a Google Form survey. One prototype got 36.4% of the votes. The name had to be short, sticky, and memorable: Juno Grey.
36.4%survey winner
4
Production
Make the Music
I fed the index-derived prompts into Musicful.ai and iterated until the output felt like a real artist with a real point of view — not playlist filler. The result was the debut album: The Greylist.
8–10 hrsproduction time
5
Release
Distribute
CD Baby — $9.99 one-time fee, ISRC codes included, worldwide streaming coverage. RouteNote rejected the submission first. No label, no studio, no gatekeepers. Live on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and 40+ more platforms.
$16.97total cost
6
Visual
Make the Videos
Velvet Static (3:22): 74% AI-generated using Adobe Firefly and Sora, 26% Pexels stock footage. ~10 hours. Lip-sync failed spectacularly. Used to Miss You: Sora rejected photorealistic Juno Grey — it thought she was a real person. Pivoted to animation. All free-tier Sora, 4–12 second clips spliced in iMovie. Key insight: describe around the subject. “South Park without saying South Park.”
Origin Story
📊
Pop Star Iconicity Index
4-dimension scoring model across 300+ artists. Longevity, Sonic Influence, Visual Identity, Era Dominance
🎹
Musicful.ai Production
AI-generated instrumentals and vocals shaped by the index's highest-scoring creative patterns
🌍
CD Baby Distribution
Full worldwide streaming distribution to Spotify, Apple, Amazon, YouTube Music, and 40+ platforms
Tools Used
CHChatGPT o1MUMusicful.aiCDCD BabySPSpotify APIADAdobe FireflySOSoraIMiMovieGOGoogle SheetsPRPrompt EngineeringCLClaudeGOGoogle FormsPEPexels
Read the Full Story
TEM Bytes on Substack · Part 1 of 3
New Music Friday: Model Behavior
How the Pop Star Iconicity Index turned into Juno Grey and a real album on Spotify
TEM Bytes on Substack · Part 2 of 3
Oops I Did It Again: When AI Promised a Music Video
Making the Velvet Static music video with Adobe Firefly, Sora, and Pexels
TEM Bytes on Substack · Part 3 of 3
The Prompt Whisperer: Notes from My Sora Spiral
When photorealism fails and animation takes over — making a music video with free Sora
Key Topics
AI Music GenerationData ModelingMusic DistributionMusicful.aiPop Culture AnalysisCD BabyStreaming PlatformsPrompt EngineeringNo-Code ReleaseAdobe FireflySoraMusic VideosAI Art
