We received an advance copy of a startling news release from music streaming service AccuRadio. See below.
Chicago (4/1/23) — As artificial intelligence (AI) is on the brink of exciting new horizons that will transform many fields including media, top online radio service AccuRadio enters the cutting edge of this trend: This weekend AccuRadio will launch of a plethora of mood- and activity-based channels using its recently-developed AccuGPT music curation tool, Founder/CEO Kurt Hanson announced today.
“While most online music services offer channels such as ‘Dinner Party Music,’ they ignore the broadest range of different expectations and needs of listeners’ specific dining experiences — e.g., the cuisine being offered (e.g., sushi vs. pizza vs. rack of lamb), the level of formality of the event, the number of guests, the weather (if outdoor dining), and so forth,” Hanson explained. “By harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, we now have the ability to fine-tune the experience for the benefit of individual AccuRadio listeners across North America and beyond.
AccuRadio’s VP of Programming, Paul Maloney noted this is a unique blast into the future: “Every streaming provider has channels for ‘working out’ and ‘driving,’ but we’ve harnessed the power of artificial intelligence to recognize nearly ANY human activity, and dynamically generate a playlist that’s perfect for any of life’s moments.”
Pre-populated channels include, “Waiting in Line at the DMV” and “I Can’t Find My Glasses” — but the list is endless, particularly when AccuRadio’s AI enables camera access of a listener’s activities. Sample channels include:
- Songs for a Text Break-Up
- Blind Date Bluegrass
- Rock-Climbing Rock (Indoor Wall)
- Rock-Climbing Roll (Outdoors)
- Deep Dish Dance
- Cat Cuddling on a Chaise
- Siberian Husky Walking (12-Minute Mile Pace)
- Welsh Corgi Walking (15-Minute Mile Pace)
- Salsa Sounds for a Scalp Massage
- Third-Date Thrash Metal
- Uptempo Tunes for Aquarium Cleaning
- Mellow Tunes for Aquarium Cleaning (Salt-Water)
As Hanson puts it, “It’s more than on-demand, it’s a music experience that AccuGPT creates instantly upon observation.”
Noted AccuRadio’s EVP of Promotion Todd Manley, “Look, we all do more than ‘Work Out’ or ‘Get Over a Broken Heart.’ Where’s the music for life’s other moments, like giving a restaurant a 3-star Yelp review because it rained the day you were there, or reaching to grab the ‘good slices’ from the middle of a loaf of bread? I’m kidding a little bit, but you see my greater point: These moments need a soundtrack!”
CEO Hanson believes the future has finally arrived. “After AccuRadio employees agreed to be subjects. our AI enabled video monitoring via their AccuRadio apps, making it able to intelligently and dynamically create channels based on any mood they were feeling or activity they were doing at any given moment. And beginning in very early Q2 2023, we’ll roll this feature out to AccuRadio listeners!”
The technology is also lifestyle-reflective, using activity and mood data that the AI obtains from a steadily-increasing number of sources — listeners’ browser histories, their financial institutions, Nest thermostats, Ring doorbells, Alexa and Google Home smart speaker devices, Sleep Number beds, and the musical selections they’ve previously made on Spotify, SiriusXM, iHeartRadio, and Audacy.com.
The first tranch of 47,000 new AI-programmed music channels will debut on Monday, April 3rd, with a special “Sneak Preview” beginning two days earlier (i.e., this coming Saturday), noted AccuRadio’s Senior Advisor and board member John Gehron.
About AccuRadio:
Launched in the summer of 2000 by radio researcher (and RAIN News publisher) Kurt Hanson and FM rock radio programmer Paul Maloney, who hoped to encourage broadcasters to embrace the variety and personalization made possible by Internet delivery of radio, AccuRadio has grown into an easy-to-use, human-curated (by a team of music lovers, musicians, and genre experts, not algorithms), and personalizable service. Now featuring over 1,400 music channels (which can be blended together into over 47 trillion possible combinations), AccuRadio has online music’s most adult, upscale, and loyal audience. Seriously.
