Hangout — part social media app, part music streamer — has pulled back its velvet rope, stacked with music from the biggest labels in the industry.
Why It’s A Hit: Social audio and metaverse platforms surged in popularity during the pandemic… and then quickly faded away. But Hangout’s sign-off by the music industry could give it enough legitimacy to be a serious player.
Between The Tracks: Hangout founder and CEO Joseph Perla is reviving the dream of Turntable.fm (which he was the CTO of over a decade ago) with his new platform.
Hangout, developed by Turntable Labs, is an Animal Crossing-like platform where users can create avatars and start or join virtual listening rooms.
The host of the room is the DJ, who can build and modify a playlist in real time, tweak elements of the song, and invite other participants to co-DJ.
Listeners can move about the room and thumbs up or down the DJ’s setlist, which affects the room’s “Vibe Meter.”
The platform, which is available online and as an iOS and Android app, will make its money via subscriptions and the sale of virtual goods.
Encore: What makes Hangout stand out is that Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group have all struck deals with the startup, giving the platform a library of roughly 100 million songs. That’s a major seal of approval, and it demonstrates Hangout was able to figure out a licensing deal right from the start that makes sense for all parties involved (and hopefully won’t lead to a UMG-TikTok situation). If users find the platform fun, expect a major artist to host an album first listening-session on the platform as a ticketed event.
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