MUMBAI: As the competition among music streaming apps and creation tools intensifies, social music-sharing app Popster is introducing two new features to expand its user base: an AI image generator for cover art and a collaboration feature allowing artists to remix other users’ songs. Launched last year as a platform for song creation and music videos, Popster enables artists to engage with fellow musicians, create original content, and share it on social media.

Users can record video and voice directly in the app, add stickers and color backgrounds, and apply in-house created vocal effects. The app also has a community section for artists to interact. Popster has embraced generative AI, offering tools for generating lyrics ideas and creating new beats for vocals. The app also uses AI to enhance audio quality by removing background noise.

A standout AI feature is the “Add a beat” tool, which lets users choose a genre (such as Lofi Hip Hop, R&B, Indie Pop, or Slow Ballad) and a vibe (like “Smooth” or “Normal”) to compose a backtrack for vocal recordings. Popster leverages Mubert’s library of royalty-free tracks, differentiating itself from AI music apps like Udio and Suno, which have faced lawsuits over alleged unauthorized use of copyrighted music.

“The issue with AI right now is that many songs are trained from original works, making it unclear who the original creator is,” co-founder and CEO Themis Drakonakis told TechCrunch. “We believe that by using AI as a creative partner, artists can experiment with different sounds, unlock new ideas, and elevate their creativity.”

Popster’s new “Albums” feature, powered by OpenAI, is the latest addition to its AI tools. It allows artists to generate images based on prompts, which can be used as sticker overlays on short-form videos, adding a layer of sophistication for emerging artists. Another new feature, “Mashup,” is similar to TikTok’s “Stitch” and “Duet” tools. It allows artists to create remixes and collaborate by recording their own videos alongside another user’s video. Though Popster is still in its early stages with only a few thousand users, its new features may attract more people.

Nearly 10,000 original songs have been created on the app, with users spending an average of 1.5 hours daily. Popster was co-founded by Drakonakis and Sotiris Kaniras (CTO), who previously developed three other apps: Nup (an anonymous chat app), Self’it (a location-based photo-sharing app), and UniPad (a collaboration app for college students). The startup has raised $280,000 from the Realize Tech Fund and is currently seeking pre-seed funding to expand its team and enhance its video server.

Future plans include launching paid features and partnering with music labels.

Popster is available for download on the App Store.