What we're listening for
The sound ÆTERNARE Radio is built around, the standards every track on the station meets, and how our curation team discovers new music.
We run things differently
Other AI radio stations open the floodgates: open submissions, and everything gets accepted. Our submissions are closed, and we're far more intentional about what goes on the air.
We value quality over volume. We want to spotlight the very best tracks, not become a dumping ground for every track ever generated.
Public submissions are closed
Our curation team is keeping an eye on the music shared inside the AI Songwriters Discord server. If a track catches our eye, we'll reach out to you personally with an invitation to have it featured on the station.
Join the server, participate, and keep sharing your music there. Please don't reach out to us about submissions. If we're interested, you'll hear from us.
The Sound
ÆTERNARE Radio is bold, genre-fluid music with personality: pop with an edge, artists with attitude, and a dark, atmospheric streak running through it all. We have a real soft spot for darkwave, goth, and anything moody, cinematic, and a little haunted. We especially look for music that sits naturally alongside Garnet Soul's discography and aesthetic, so the station feels like one cohesive listening experience.
Pop with teeth. Hyperpop, dark pop, and alt R&B swagger, rap confidence and rock catharsis, all wrapped in darkwave atmosphere.
Pop With Teeth
Core Pop
Club & Attitude
R&B, Rap & Hip-Hop
R&B
Rap
Rock, Punk & Metal
Rock & Punk
Heavier
Darkwave & Atmospheric
Darkwave & Gothic
Atmospheric & Experimental
Current requirements
Right now, every track we feature needs to meet all of the following:
- English-language tracks. Vocals and lyrics should be primarily in English.
- Vocal tracks. We're not looking for instrumental-only music.
- Human-written lyrics. No AI-generated lyrics. See Lyrics below.
- No gospel or heavily religious music, including tracks where faith or worship is the central focus.
A guide, not a checklist
Music is deeply subjective. These artists and genres point in the direction we love, but fitting a genre doesn't guarantee a spot, and plenty of great tracks live somewhere in between.
Ultimately, what goes on the air is up to the curation team and Garnet Soul's discretion. If we feel your music fits the line-up, we'll reach out.
Lyrics
We want to feel something.
A great production can't save empty words. The tracks that catch our attention have lyrics that sound like a real person with something to say. They're specific, honest, a little imperfect, and unmistakably yours.
No AI-generated lyrics
Use whatever tools you like to make the music, but write your own lyrics. AI-written lyrics are easy to spot: they're polished, generic, and say nothing. We pass on them, no matter how good the track sounds.
When you use AI to generate your lyrics, you're repackaging the exact same imagery everybody else is using. The same words, the same metaphors, the same outros. Your song ends up sounding like thousands of others, because in a very real way it is.
The giveaway words
AI leans on the same small set of words over and over. When a lyric is built out of these, it reads as AI-written immediately:
And the phrases we hear in what feels like every other AI song:
No single word is banned, and a great writer can make any word land. The problem is lyrics that lean on these words instead of saying something real.
Clichés we've heard 10,000 times
We have heard so many songs end with an outro saying "transmission ended" or "broadcast over." These are the tropes that show up in track after track:
The "signal" outro
Robot / cyber imagery
Late-night city
Darkness & rebirth
If your idea is the first one an AI would come up with, it's the first one everyone else's AI came up with too. Dig for the second, third, and tenth idea, the one only you would write.
Other tells we pass on
- Gimmick bookends. Spoken intros and outros like "signal lost," "end of transmission," or a robotic voice announcing the song is over. It's not a twist if every song does it.
- Easy rhyme chains like fire / higher / desire, night / light / fight, heart / apart / start, verse after verse.
- All abstraction, no detail. Big feelings (pain, freedom, love, darkness) with nothing concrete to see, touch, or remember.
- Motivational-poster energy. "We'll rise," "we're unstoppable," "never give up," with no story behind it.
- A faceless "you." Songs addressed to someone with no personality, history, or detail.
- Theme-word stuffing. A "dark" song that just stacks shadows, void, and abyss, or a "cyber" song that's all neon, code, and static.
What we're listening for
- Specific details. A real place, an object, a moment, a name. The small things make a song believable.
- Your own voice. The way you talk and think, including the weird parts.
- Honesty over polish. An awkward line that's true beats a smooth line that's empty.
- Images we haven't heard before. Surprise us.
Racing down the neon highway,
our hearts on fire, we can't look away.
Shattered dreams beneath the stars,
two souls colliding in the dark.
Every line is a stock image: neon, hearts on fire, shattered dreams, souls colliding. You've heard it a thousand times, and it doesn't put you anywhere.
No choice, we trust fate in the dark
Even while headlights blind our car
Split second we could leave the Earth
Glass shattered all over the curb
Same night drive, same danger, but you're in the car. Even "shattered" works here, because it's real glass on a real curb, not a mood.
Content Policy
ÆTERNARE Radio is a safe, inclusive space for artistic expression. We support artistic freedom and vulnerability, and we have zero tolerance for content that harms our community.
Discriminatory content
We don't allow content that discriminates against or harms people, including:
- Homophobia or discrimination against LGBTQ+ people
- Transphobia or discrimination against transgender people
- Sexism or discrimination against women
- Racism or discrimination against any race or ethnicity
- Xenophobia or discrimination against immigrants and refugees
Harmful content
We don't allow content that promotes or glamorizes:
- Hate speech or language that incites real-world violence
- Self-harm or suicide
- Explicit threats against individuals or groups
- Misinformation that could cause real-world harm
- Content that violates human rights
Slurs
No racial, homophobic, or other slurs in lyrics. No exceptions, including reclaimed use.
Even if you're from a group that could reclaim a word, our curation team isn't large enough to meaningfully make sure this isn't abused, so we pass on all such tracks.
Artistic expression
Violent themes are allowed in lyrics when they're used for artistic expression, storytelling, or metaphor. Direct, tangible threats of real-world violence are not.
Mental health expression
We deeply value artists who courageously share their mental health struggles and personal experiences. You're free to express your pain, trauma, and emotional journey authentically.
There's a fine line, though: we don't allow content that glamorizes, romanticizes, or actively promotes self-harm or suicide.
Violations of this policy result in immediate content removal and account termination.
Ownership & Rights
Your music remains entirely yours. You keep full ownership and all rights to your work.
Consent comes first
- Nothing goes on ÆTERNARE Radio without your explicit consent.
- Sharing a track in the AI Songwriters Discord does not give us permission to broadcast it.
- If we reach out, accepting an invitation is entirely up to you.
When your music is featured
By having a track featured on ÆTERNARE Radio, you confirm that:
- You're the original creator and copyright owner of the work
- You have all the rights needed to distribute it
- It doesn't infringe on any third-party copyrights, trademarks, or other intellectual property
- You grant ÆTERNARE Radio a non-exclusive license to broadcast and distribute it
Uploading material owned by others without authorization, or other copyright violations, may result in account termination.
How Curation Works
We take an intentional approach to building the station's catalog. Rather than trying to feature everything, we look for music that genuinely excites us, so every track on the air has a reason to be there.
Discovery is by invitation
- Our curation team listens to the music shared throughout the AI Songwriters Discord server.
- When something catches our eye, we reach out personally and offer you the opportunity to have it featured.
- There's no application or submission queue. Please don't reach out to us asking to be featured.
Curation decisions
- All curation decisions are final and not open to discussion.
- A track not being featured isn't a reflection of your talent. It's a matter of fit with the station's identity.
Catalog changes
- Tracks may be retired from the station at any time, without warning, as we refine its identity and direction.
- Retirement isn't personal and isn't a judgment of your value as an artist.
- ÆTERNARE Radio is not a backup service. Always keep your own copies of your music.
Community conduct
- No drama or personal attacks toward the curation team over curation decisions.
- Harassment or abuse toward staff results in immediate and permanent removal from the platform.