As more music streaming apps and creation tools emerge to compete for users' attention, social music sharing app Popster is getting two new features to expand its user base: AI graphics for cover art Collaboration features where creators and artists can remix other users.

Popster originally launched last year as a songwriting tool and music video platform that allows artists to interact with other musicians to create original songs and music videos and share them on social media. Users can record video and voice directly in the app and add stickers and color backgrounds. The app also offers a selection of vocal effects (created in-house) and a community section for artists to interact with each other.

The app has, naturally, jumped on the generative AI bandwagon as well. For instance, it provides ways for artists to generate ideas for lyrics as well as create new beats to record vocals on top. (Popster also uses artificial intelligence technology to improve sound when background noise is present.)

A well-known AI tool is the "Add Beat" function. With OpenAI, users can choose a genre (Lofi Hip Hop, R&B, Indie Pop, Slow Ballad, etc.) and a mood like "Smooth" or "Normal" to create background music for the singer, then add their own track on top. . Popster trains its model using Mubert's library of royalty-free recordings, which is different from AI music apps Udio and Suno, both of which recently faced lawsuits for allegedly using copyrighted music without permission.

"The problem with AI right now is that a lot of people create songs that are trained from original songs, so you don't know who the original author is, and there's no concept of that creativity," the co-founder said. and TechCrunch CEO Themis Drakonakis. "We believe that when you use artificial intelligence as a creative partner for artists, you can experiment with [different voices], unleash different ideas and take your creativity to another level."

Popster's new 'Album' art generator is the latest addition to its generative AI tools powered by OpenAI. In addition to the ability to record and upload videos, Popster now allows artists to enter prompts to create images that can be displayed as stickers over the artist's short videos. This creates an additional level of difficulty for new artists trying to introduce their new songs to the world.

Another new feature in Popster appears to be a reference to TikTok's Stitch and Duet tools, which artists often use to combine their videos with other creators to add sounds, harmonies or play instruments. Popster's new 'Mash-Up' feature allows artists to create remixes and collaborate with other artists. Users can now click the "Mash" button under another person's video and record their own video that will be displayed next to it. Popster is still in its infancy with only a few thousand users. However, Popster's latest feature may be just what it needs to attract more people. So far, almost 10,000 original songs have been created on the app. Drakonakis told us that users spend an average of 1.5 hours on the app daily. The startup was co-founded by Drakonakis, who previously created two other apps, Self'it (a location-based photo sharing app) and UniPad (a collaboration app for university students), and Sotiris Kaniras (CTO). UniPad.

Popster has raised $280,000 from the Realize Tech Fund and is raising a pre-seed round that will help expand the team and improve the video servers. Other future plans include launching paid features and collaborating with music labels.