Music streaming platforms YouTube Music and Deezer are beta testing new AI features designed to simplify the process of finding music. Both platforms currently utilize users’ search activity, feedback and listening history to suggest music. However, these new features will cater to those who can’t remember song titles or artists.
One of these additions on YouTube Music is a new AI song recognition feature known as ‘sound search’ or ‘hum to search’. This feature, which was briefly made available to some Android and iOS users back in May, allows users to find their desired song by humming, singing or playing a part of it. It’s now available for premium users in the US, where it can be identified as a button next to the microphone voice search option.
Another advanced feature is the ‘conversational radio’, currently undergoing beta testing. By simply describing what they want to hear, users can create personalized playlists. The functionality is confirmed if the ‘Ask for music any way you like’ card visible in the Home feed.
Both features use AI to curate playlists, moving away from the use of pre-made, user-generated playlists. For instance, requesting “laid-back dinner music with a Latin vibe” will generate a relevant playlist.
Similarly, Deezer has introduced its ‘Playlist with AI’ feature, presently being beta tested on 5% of its paying subscribers. The feature will eventually be released globally and allows the creation of custom playlists via a simple text prompt. It reportedly relies on Google’s Gemini 1.5 AI model for curation.
Alexandra Leloup, VP Product at Deezer, expressed the company’s excitement over the new feature, highlighting its potential to create soundtracks for a multitude of activities and moods, facilitating new music discovery in seconds.
AI music generators such as Suno, Udio, and Google’s Dream Track, suggest that even more extensive personalization options could soon be part of music streaming apps.
YouTube Music and Deezer’s manoeuvring underlines the increasing role of AI in enhancing music streaming services, particularly regarding the ease and precision of music exploration and discovery.
