SoundCloud Working on Music Discovery Feed Similar to TikTok

No one can deny the success of TikTok's vertical feed.

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This illustration picture taken on July 24, 2019 in Paris shows the logo of the German music streaming application SoundCloud on the screen of a tablet. MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images

SoundCloud is the most recent app to test a new music-related feature powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The tool is an AI-driven vertical feed that plays song snippets to introduce new artists and songs to the app subscribers.

SoundCloud's goal is to be the first large platform to combine several cutting-edge elements into a single, user-friendly package that facilitates discovery.

The firm did not reveal how many monthly listeners its platform receives, though it boasted 130 million "engaged fans" in a recent blog post. Furthermore, it asserts that it is home to the works of over 40 million artists, who have contributed over 320 million recordings.

New 'Discover' Page

According to TechCrunch, a subset of the company's iOS and Android app users are participating in a beta test of a vertical feed discovery function. All SoundCloud users, not only those participating in the trial, will see the new "Discover" page and the existing "Following" page under the Feed tab.

Until now, the tab only displayed reposts from friends and new tracking from artists you were following.

AI Integration

You may expect to see tracks based on your listening history and musical preferences on SoundCloud's Discover page. Whenever the program recommends a piece of music to you, it will also provide a line of text describing the selection's rationale. Such descriptions can read, "Because you follow A" or "Because you liked B."

An important new element on SoundCloud's Discover and Following pages is the 30-second previews. An artist may choose a clip to highlight their music, or they can use the AI technology developed by Musiio.

Musiio is a company that SoundCloud purchased last year to facilitate better discovery.

The music will be added to your "Liked tracked" if you click the "like" button and confirm that you agree with the selection. To hear the whole tune, click the play button, which will take you to a new page with details about the song.

Thanks to the updated layout, leaving feedback on the song or adding it to a playlist is now a breeze.

SoundCloud, unlike Spotify, has not decided to replace the like button with a plus sign.

The Vertical Feed

Several services are adopting TikTok's vertical feed format after seeing its success in stumbling onto creative content.

Spotify has been beta-testing this feature for a while now, but it has not been released to the public just yet. Resso, owned by ByteDance and available in India, Brazil, and Indonesia, uses a vertical feed but forces users to listen to whole songs rather than snippets.

TechCrunch said Smores and HotDrop are just two of the many music discovery apps that employ a combination of AI and short clips to introduce people to new music.

Trisha Andrada
Tech Times
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