Speak Music’s Melody lets music lovers request songs using their voice

By Kris Wouk January 6, 2017

A woman wearing headphones looks at a smartphone while listening to music on a sofa.

With potential access to millions of songs via your phone, you no longer need to load up cars with piles of CDs or make mix tapes to carry around. However, this brings a problem along with it, in that finding music while paying attention to what’s going on around you isn’t easy. Speak Music aims to fix that with Melody, a new app that acts as a “personal music assistant,” letting you request songs using just your voice.

“Finding and playing music on your phone while engaging in other activities such as driving, sports or many other activities is difficult and disruptive. We created a platform that allows users to simply speak what they want to hear and it plays, instantly,” Speak Music president and co-founder Dean Summers said in a statement. “We are bringing innovation in voice technology and artificial intelligence to deliver hands-free and eyes-free audio entertainment to the masses.”

You don’t even need to make sure your phone or tablet is loaded up with songs before using Melody, as it taps into iHeartRadio’s massive library of live and custom radio stations to provide you with a near-endless variety of music. The app understands natural language, so you can request songs or stations with phrases like “Play New York Hip Hop Radio.” The service uses artificial intelligence that grows smarter the more you use it.

“iHeartRadio is committed to finding new and innovative ways to expand on the radio listening experience,” iHeartRadio president Darren Davis said. “Providing users with voice-activated access to browsing and listening to our thousands of radio stations gives listeners yet another easy way to enjoy our service.”

No matter where you want to listen, Melody aims to make it easy. The app supports being used via Bluetooth headphones and speakers, including hands-free mode, as well as AirPlay and compatible car controls.

Melody is available now for iOS devices via the iTunes App Store, with an Android version expected to launch in the near future.

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Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…

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