An era of AI's integration into music has dawned on us. The possibilities have become endless, the limit to what kind of music we can create, and how many genres and styles we can merge has become completely insignificant.
Just with a single prompt at the click of a button, AI lets us transform Beethoven's Symphony Number 5 from a classic composition to a dubstep-infused masterpiece. In all this buzz of AI bleeding into the music creation process, it's important not to lose sight of the most important thing: ethics. While using artists songs to create fascinating remixes does sound fun and appealing, leveraging off their creative originality to essentially create a version of the song that they put their blood, sweat and tears into takes away from the joy of creation in the first place. That's where Hook comes in; to stop that slowly fading line from completely disappearing.
Hook may not ring any bells just yet, with it being a relatively new player in the AI music game. However, it promises something different in its operations compared to other major names in the industry, such as Suno Studio, Mureka, Musicful and so many more. Hook is a music creation and remixing platform that prioritises artists while simultaneously empowering fans to exercise their creativity when creating music.
They've announced that their venture to raise funds in an attempt to expand the reach of the app was extremely successful. Led by KHOSLA VENTURES, the Series A funding round that involved existing investors Point72 Ventures, Imaginary Ventures and Waverley Capital, co-founded by former Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman, Jr., and existing investors across the music ecosystem including Kygo’s Palm Tree Crew, Three Six Zero, Avex, The Raine Group, and renowned musician and DJ KSHMR, has raised over 16 million dollars, majorly changing the game for the future of Hook.
This funding will be channelled into Hook's aim to champion ethical fan-powered music creation by forging new partnerships and relationships with major players in the music industry as they continue to further enhance the app experience itself. This ensures that users have a seamless experience by enhancing the platform introducing an Android app, community features, richer creation tools, and native video and recording capabilities. By extending its open platform and prioritising artist control, Hook envisions a space where fandom, creativity and artist-led ownership converge in the new era of music and rampant digital development.
“Hook is solving a hard problem at the center of modern music: enabling remixing and social distribution in a way that works for rights holders at scale,” said Samir Kaul, Khosla Ventures’ Founding Partner and Managing Director. “The team has built a platform that pairs a consumer-native experience with licensing, attribution and reporting infrastructure that the ecosystem can rely on. We’re excited to lead this round and support Hook’s next phase of growth.”
How Hook Works?
We mapped out how Hook's interface works with beginner users so you don't have to! Here is our guide to navigating Hook when starting out and making your first ever remix.
Once you log on to the app and start a new account, you're all set to begin making your first track. Click on the plus icon at the bottom of the screen to pick from Hook's library of songs that have been approved for ethical use, remixing and infusing with your own creative liberty. You can sort through the vast catalogue of tracks by genre, from pop to electronic music.
Once the song for the remix has been chosen, you enter the Hook Studio interface where you can add music filters to completely transform the track across genres. The list of music filters available include a wide range featuring electro pop, Afrohouse, dubstep, jingglehop, reggae and so many more.
After selecting your desired filter, the original track fits into the new filter chosen, allowing endless possibilities for the new remixes you can create. Adjust the intensity of the filter and how much it influences the original sound of the track with the dial that pops up.
After adding a filter, further adjust the sound of the track and the tone of it by adding sound effects or adjusting certain elements of the track to highlight them further. Increase the speed of a track to create an energetic rendition of the original or even create a club banger by selecting base boost. After selecting an effect, you can also adjust its prominence on the track by dragging the dial.
Once you're happy with your Hook remix, publish your unique work on Hook to share it with other users on the app. Add a caption and even repost your Hook remix onto your other social accounts such as TikTok, Instagram, Soundcloud or Snapchat. Here is our remix of Joji's 'Pixelated Kiss' from his latest album Piss In The Wind:
@sharvamaya.mohan Pixelated Kiss - Club Remix 🪩 #madeonhook ♬ original sound - Sharvamaya Mohan
All in all, Hook is one of the only AI-powered software platforms that empowers artists and fans alike. Through encouraging freedom of creativity by allowing music lovers to reimagine their favourite tracks like never before, while protecting artistic integrity through ethical sourcing and artist-led ownership of the tracks.
With their increased funding, they are now able to expand on their goals, maximising their potential in the AI music scene and putting the days of violating fair use clauses and copyright strikes behind us. Try out Hook with friends and family and come up with new versions of tracks that you've loved in an honest way that protects creativity and originality.
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