Social music platform Hangout has jumped into the biggest trend in music by adding the ability to create music using a generative AI feature, joining the likes of Udio and Suno in the rush to utilize large language models to produce music with a push of a button.
Hangout’s AI feature, called Turntable.AI, allows users to create an AI-generated track using a simple text prompt. Users can choose different lengths of time for the AI track. Hangout will give away a million short tracks and require payment using the platform’s tokens for longer tracks, Turntable Labs founder and CEO Joseph Perla tells Billboard. “Since this is the first ever of its kind social platform, full music service, plus AI, we are experimenting with pricing,” he says.
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The arrival of AI music on Hangout, which Perla says has over two million users, marks the first time a music streaming platform has offered AI music generation along with a licensed catalog of music. “We’re nearing the ChatGPT moment for music,” Perla said, referring to the first AI chatbot powered by a large language model to break into the mainstream.
For the AI feature, the company says it has licensed music from “thousands” of record labels to train its proprietary music model. Exactly which record labels’ music was licensed has not been disclosed, and Perla declined to comment on the matter.
Launched in Nov. 2024, Hangout allows users to play DJ in virtual rooms, create rooms to play songs and congregate with friends and strangers. The platform launched with licenses from the three major music groups — Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group — and independent rights group Merlin. Perla based Hangout on Turntable.fm, a social music platform he co-founded and launched in 2011. Turntable.fm shut down at the end of 2013 amid licensing issues, however, but Perla revived the idea with financial backing from investors such as Founders Fund, Elizabeth Street Ventures and 468 Capital.
Hangout joins a handful of other generative AI music platforms that have either launched or signed licensing agreements. Udio, which launched in April 2024, signed licensing agreement with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. Two-year-old Suno inked a deal with Warner Music Group in November. Klay, which expects to launch in the coming months, announced its licensing deals with the three major music groups in November.
But aside from Hangout, Spotify is the only streaming platform with plans for AI products. Spotify announced in October that it partnered with the three major music groups, plus Merlin and Believe, on “artist-first” AI music tools. The company has not revealed details but explained it has started building a generative AI research lab and product team that will build AI tools that enhance the artist-fan connection and provide fair compensation and new revenue.
