New features are now coming to YouTube Music. The platform – in its latest move of incorporating AI – has introduced the expansion of the “hum to search” tool and the testing of an AI-generated conversational radio. These features, powering on the AI bandwagon, are coming to make YouTube more intuitive and personalized.
YouTube Music’s Hum to Search feature (also known as sound search) eliminates the struggle of finding out which music is playing while you are sitting in a cafe or partying in a club. Working pretty much like Apple-owned Shazam, the “hum to search” tool, initially rolled out in beta for Android users in March, is now expanding to both iOS and Android users. This tool allows users to search the extensive YouTube Music catalog, which boasts over 100 million official songs, by simply using natural sounds. Users can hum, sing, or play a tune on an instrument to identify a song.
To utilize this feature, users need to tap the search button and look for the waveform icon. Activating this icon prompts the tool to listen to the user’s input. The tool is designed to recognize and match the hummed or sung melody with its vast song library, providing users with the song’s details such as title, artist, and album. This capability sets YouTube Music apart from traditional song recognition tools like Shazam, which typically require the actual song to be played. The expansion of the “hum to search” tool to iOS users marks a significant milestone for YouTube Music, broadening access and enhancing the song discovery process for a wider audience.
In addition to the “hum to search” tool, YouTube Music is testing a new feature called AI-generated conversational radio. This tool represents a significant leap in personalizing music listening experiences by allowing users to create custom radio stations through natural language descriptions. Instead of selecting from predefined genres or playlists, users can describe the type of music they want to hear. For example, one could request “catchy pop choruses” or “upbeat pop anthems,” and the AI algorithm will curate a radio station based on these specific preferences.
Currently, the AI-generated conversational radio is available to select Premium subscribers in the United States. This limited rollout is part of YouTube Music’s strategy to test and refine the feature before making it more widely available. The conversational element of this tool is designed to provide a more accurate and personalized listening experience, as it allows the AI to zero in on the user’s exact tastes as described. This feature is reminiscent of similar AI playlist generation tools being tested by other music streaming services like Spotify, Amazon Music, and Deezer.
To access these new features, users need to be subscribed to YouTube Music. For the “hum to search” tool, users can find it by tapping the search button in the app and selecting the waveform icon. This tool is now available to all users on both iOS and Android devices, making it easier than ever to discover music by simply humming or singing a tune. For the AI-generated conversational radio, select Premium users in the United States will start to see a new “Ask for music any way you like” card in the app’s home feed. By clicking on this card, users can enter a custom prompt or select a suggested one in a conversational UI, allowing the AI to generate a custom radio station based on their description. While currently limited to a select group, YouTube Music plans to expand this feature to more users in the future, based on user feedback and the success of the initial rollout.
