Apps

TikTok is experimenting with a feature that uses AI to create songs based on prompts

Comment

TikTok logo pictured at the company's booth during the Tokyo Game Show in Chiba prefecture on September 15
Image Credits: YUICHI YAMAZAKI / Contributor / Getty Images

TikTok is testing a new “AI Song” feature that uses AI to create songs based on prompts that users enter, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. AI Song is an experimental feature and is currently only available to a select number of users. The feature is designed to be used for fun, not for trying to create the next viral song.

The company told TechCrunch that AI Song uses Bloom, a large language model, to create lyrics based on text prompts. The lyrics are then paired with music from a pre-saved catalogue created within TikTok.

TikTok user Jonah Manzano posted a walkthrough of the new feature to detail how it works. According to the video, AI Song starts by asking users to “enter a prompt to generate a song.” TikTok provides some suggested prompts such as “Going to concerts,” “A new beginning” and “Cuddling with pets.” Or, you can enter your own prompt. After a prompt has been entered, the app will start generating your song.

After a few seconds, the app will then create lyrics related to your prompt and pair it with music. You can change the vibe of the song by switching between “pop,” “EDM” and “Hiphop.” The final result is a strange song with lyrics based on the text prompt that was entered.

@jonahcruzmanzano

How to create a song using AI on TikTok. 🎵 Explore the world of AI music on TikTok! Join me in creating catchy Pop, EDM, and HipHop songs using simple prompts and words. 🤖✨ Let’s make music together! 🚀🎶 What is AI Song? AI Song is an experimental feature available on TikTok, utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to generate songs based on prompts you input. How does AI Song work? The lyric generation in AI Song is driven by Bloom, a robust language model employing machine learning to produce text. It’s important to note that lyrics generated by this model might include errors, and the same lyrics may be generated for multiple users utilizing the feature. For your security, refrain from sharing personal or confidential information while using AI Song #tiktok #tiktoknewfeature #tiktokai #tiktoknews #tiktokupdate

♬ Vibes – ZHRMusic

According to the video, the app notes that “there are rules that must be followed” when using AI Song. For instance, the feature can’t be used to exploit or harm minors or spread false or personal information that harms others. It also can’t be used to defame, impersonate or harass others.

As with any other test feature, it’s unknown when or if AI Song will roll out more widely. TikTok did note that it may change the name of the feature in the future.

TikTok isn’t the only company that has rolled out tools to help users create music for short-form videos. A few months ago, YouTube launched a “Dream Track” feature that lets creators build 30-second AI-generated soundtracks. Users can create soundtrack in the voices of select artists, including Alec Benjamin, Charlie Puth, Charli XCX, Demi Lovato, John Legend, Sia, T-Pain, Troye Sivan and Papoose.

It’s worth noting that while TikTok’s new feature isn’t designed for the music industry, TikTok parent ByteDance launched a free-to-use music production app in the United States last June to help musicians create and edit audio in a way that’s similar to portable smart digital audio workstations (DAWs).

With Ripple, users can directly sing or hum a melody into the app, after which it will use machine learning to expand the melody and turn it into an instrumental song. The app’s model was trained on music that is licensed to or owned by ByteDance. Ripple lets users record, cut, trim and edit audio files easily on their mobile device.

The new AI Song feature comes as TikTok has been pushing deeper into the music business. Last year, it launched its own subscription-only music streaming service called “TikTok Music” in select countries to take on companies like Spotify and Apple Music.

Although TikTok hasn’t shared any details about when it plans to launch the streaming service in the United States, it’s been over a year since ByteDance filed a trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a service called “TikTok Music,” so we can likely expect a launch at some point.

TikTok parent ByteDance launches music creation and audio editing app in closed beta in the US

More TechCrunch

After Apple loosened its App Store guidelines to permit game emulators, the retro game emulator Delta — an app 10 years in the making — hit the top of the…

Adobe comes after indie game emulator Delta for copying its logo

Meta is once again taking on its competitors by developing a feature that borrows concepts from others — in this case, BeReal and Snapchat. The company is developing a feature…

Meta’s latest experiment borrows from BeReal’s and Snapchat’s core ideas

Welcome to Startups Weekly! We’ve been drowning in AI news this week, with Google’s I/O setting the pace. And Elon Musk rages against the machine.

Startups Weekly: It’s the dawning of the age of AI — plus,  Musk is raging against the machine

IndieBio’s Bay Area incubator is about to debut its 15th cohort of biotech startups. We took special note of a few, which were making some major, bordering on ludicrous, claims…

IndieBio’s SF incubator lineup is making some wild biotech promises

YouTube TV has announced that its multiview feature for watching four streams at once is now available on Android phones and tablets. The Android launch comes two months after YouTube…

YouTube TV’s ‘multiview’ feature is now available on Android phones and tablets

Featured Article

Two Santa Cruz students uncover security bug that could let millions do their laundry for free

CSC ServiceWorks provides laundry machines to thousands of residential homes and universities, but the company ignored requests to fix a security bug.

6 hours ago
Two Santa Cruz students uncover security bug that could let millions do their laundry for free

OpenAI’s Superalignment team, responsible for developing ways to govern and steer “superintelligent” AI systems, was promised 20% of the company’s compute resources, according to a person from that team. But…

OpenAI created a team to control ‘superintelligent’ AI — then let it wither, source says

TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 is just around the corner, and the buzz is palpable. But what if we told you there’s a chance for you to not just attend, but also…

Harness the TechCrunch Effect: Host a Side Event at Disrupt 2024

Decks are all about telling a compelling story and Goodcarbon does a good job on that front. But there’s important information missing too.

Pitch Deck Teardown: Goodcarbon’s $5.5M seed deck

Slack is making it difficult for its customers if they want the company to stop using its data for model training.

Slack under attack over sneaky AI training policy

A Texas-based company that provides health insurance and benefit plans disclosed a data breach affecting almost 2.5 million people, some of whom had their Social Security number stolen. WebTPA said…

Healthcare company WebTPA discloses breach affecting 2.5 million people

Featured Article

Microsoft dodges UK antitrust scrutiny over its Mistral AI stake

Microsoft won’t be facing antitrust scrutiny in the U.K. over its recent investment into French AI startup Mistral AI.

8 hours ago
Microsoft dodges UK antitrust scrutiny over its Mistral AI stake

Ember has partnered with HSBC in the U.K. so that the bank’s business customers can access Ember’s services from their online accounts.

Embedded finance is still trendy as accounting automation startup Ember partners with HSBC UK

Kudos uses AI to figure out consumer spending habits so it can then provide more personalized financial advice, like maximizing rewards and utilizing credit effectively.

Kudos lands $10M for an AI smart wallet that picks the best credit card for purchases

The EU’s warning comes after Microsoft failed to respond to a legally binding request for information that focused on its generative AI tools.

EU warns Microsoft it could be fined billions over missing GenAI risk info

The prospects for troubled banking-as-a-service startup Synapse have gone from bad to worse this week after a United States Trustee filed an emergency motion on Wednesday.  The trustee is asking…

A US Trustee wants troubled fintech Synapse to be liquidated via Chapter 7 bankruptcy, cites ‘gross mismanagement’

U.K.-based Seraphim Space is spinning up its 13th accelerator program, with nine participating companies working on a range of tech from propulsion to in-space manufacturing and space situational awareness. The…

Seraphim’s latest space accelerator welcomes nine companies

OpenAI has reached a deal with Reddit to use the social news site’s data for training AI models. In a blog post on OpenAI’s press relations site, the company said…

OpenAI inks deal to train AI on Reddit data

X users will now be able to discover posts from new Communities that are trending directly from an Explore tab within the section.

X pushes more users to Communities

For Mark Zuckerberg’s 40th birthday, his wife got him a photoshoot. Zuckerberg gives the camera a sly smile as he sits amid a carefully crafted re-creation of his childhood bedroom.…

Mark Zuckerberg’s makeover: Midlife crisis or carefully crafted rebrand?

Strava announced a slew of features, including AI to weed out leaderboard cheats, a new ‘family’ subscription plan, dark mode and more.

Strava taps AI to weed out leaderboard cheats, unveils ‘family’ plan, dark mode and more

We all fall down sometimes. Astronauts are no exception. You need to be in peak physical condition for space travel, but bulky space suits and lower gravity levels can be…

Astronauts fall over. Robotic limbs can help them back up.

Microsoft will launch its custom Cobalt 100 chips to customers as a public preview at its Build conference next week, TechCrunch has learned. In an analyst briefing ahead of Build,…

Microsoft’s custom Cobalt chips will come to Azure next week

What a wild week for transportation news! It was a smorgasbord of news that seemed to touch every sector and theme in transportation.

Tesla keeps cutting jobs and the feds probe Waymo

Sony Music Group has sent letters to more than 700 tech companies and music streaming services to warn them not to use its music to train AI without explicit permission.…

Sony Music warns tech companies over ‘unauthorized’ use of its content to train AI

Winston Chi, Butter’s founder and CEO, told TechCrunch that “most parties, including our investors and us, are making money” from the exit.

GrubMarket buys Butter to give its food distribution tech an AI boost

The investor lawsuit is related to Bolt securing a $30 million personal loan to Ryan Breslow, which was later defaulted on.

Bolt founder Ryan Breslow wants to settle an investor lawsuit by returning $37 million worth of shares

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, launched an enterprise version of the prominent social network in 2015. It always seemed like a stretch for a company built on a consumer…

With the end of Workplace, it’s fair to wonder if Meta was ever serious about the enterprise

X, formerly Twitter, turned TweetDeck into X Pro and pushed it behind a paywall. But there is a new column-based social media tool in town, and it’s from Instagram Threads.…

Meta Threads is testing pinned columns on the web, similar to the old TweetDeck

As part of 2024’s Accessibility Awareness Day, Google is showing off some updates to Android that should be useful to folks with mobility or vision impairments. Project Gameface allows gamers…

Google expands hands-free and eyes-free interfaces on Android