A nostalgic return
To those who are familiar with the service from back in the days of 2010 known as Turntable.fm, Hangout will be quite familiar. The new social platform, accessible via iOS, Android and web browser, takes the essence of its predecessor with a similar design and experience: chinese cartoon like avatars, turntables and an improvised virtual stage. The platform is quite reminiscent of the fact that Turntable.fm was once the king of social music discovery. Hangout applies social design regulator which adopts both classic appearance and advanced functions to attract young people and at the same time bring back old memories.
A truly impressive list all thanks to the major labels
Instead of replicating the old Turntable.fm model, Hangout adapts it. The company’s music platform – Turntable Labs – is streaming over one hundred million songs through licensing agreements with the major music labels Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, as well as Warner Music Group, and Merlin, which consolidates many independent labels. Thanks to cooperation with the majors, we can provide a diverse list of music that will suit everyone’s taste and provide an opportunity to share it with others.
It is a social and participatory one.
During Hangout, users switch between the role of a DJ in ‘rooms’ where five people can listen to and share their favourite songs interchangeably to create a form of ‘live playlist’. This is to create the same feel as people getting together with friends commonly seen as they gather around a jukebox or turntable. Other features include the ability to view posted tracks and speak with other users in real time – a relief from automated playlist suggestions.
Music reinvented: free, fluid and infinite
Unlike Turntable.fm which was a legally-bound music app, Hangout is a legally open one – users do not suffer from limitations that were obligatory for Turntable.fm. No more per-room attendance quotas or limited playable songs per hour: Thus, with no break in actuality, the users can wander through the millions of tracks and share them to their hearts’ content.
