Clubhouse Adds Music Mode, A New Audio Setting For Musicians And Creators

Clubhouse has introduced Music Mode on its app, which will first roll out to iOS devices and later on Android soon after. While its name sounds like an entirely new mode, the addition is actually a new audio setting that is tailored specially for musicians and creators who use the platform to broadcast their music. 

According to Clubhouse’s recent blog entry, activating Music Mode will optimise the platform’s audio streaming capability to deliver “high quality and great stereo sound.” In addition, enabling it will also allow musicians and creators to hook up professional equipment such as a USB microphone or a mixing board to be used during their broadcasts. 

To enable the mode, simply tap on the three dots at the top right corner, select Audio Quality, and then choose Music from the list. Keep in mind that this Mode is only for broadcasters, and regular users and audiences are not required to tweak their settings in order to enjoy the “high quality” music streaming.

In fact, Clubhouse had added a much appreciated audio enhancement feature for all users earlier this month. As we’ve reported prior to this, the platform previously introduced spatial audio support to its app, adding a sense of depth to its overall sound delivery – which is great for chat rooms, presentations, and also live music performances.

Being the pioneer of audio-only broadcasting, Clubhouse continues to face steep competition from its rivals such as Twitter, Facebook and even Spotify. All of which had only recently jumped into the scene after realising the fledgling platform’s ever growing success. Ever since, Clubhouse has vigorously been introducing improvements and new features to its app in order to be a step ahead of its numerous competitors.

YouTube Music Background Playback Feature In November

The background playback ability that was introduced on YouTube Music sometime back as a Premium-only feature will soon be made available to all users. However, it will take a while until you’ll be able to use it though, as the Google-owned streaming service announced that the feature will only be rolled out later in November – with Canada being the first region to receive it.

If you’re unfamiliar with the feature, background playback basically allows you to continue streaming audio from YouTube Music even when it is minimised in the, well, background. This is useful in situations where you wish to multitask on other applications while also tuning in to music from the app.

However, as we’ve mentioned earlier, the feature (as well as its video counterpart) is exclusive to those paying for a monthly subscription with the platform. For non-paying users, locking the background playback ability behind a paywall is baffling, especially considering that Spotify, YouTube Music’s closest rival, has allowed both its free and paying users to play music while its mobile app is minimised for quite some time now.

Thankfully, this will no longer be considered a limitation for free YouTube Music users once November arrives. The platform did not mention when those outside of Canada can expect the feature to be rolled out in their respective regions.

iOS 14.6 Beta Code Hints At Apple Music HiFi

Back in February, Spotify announced that it will have a HiFi subscription tier later in the year. Apple may have its own HiFi tier for its own music subscription service as a response, according to code found in iOS 14.6 beta.

9to5Mac reports that the Apple Music app in the first beta of iOS 14.6 contains code that mentions Dolby Atmos, Dolby Audio and Lossless. Though this seems to be found only on the first beta of the mobile operating system. The outlet says that the codes were not found in the internal files of iOS 14.5 or iOS 014.6 beta 2.

The Apple Music app doesn’t currently have support for Dolby Atmos or Dolby Audio. And as far as lossless support goes, it only applies to the company’s own ALAC lossless format. Music streaming from the app only comes in 256kbps AAC. This may change with Apple Music HiFi, which is reportedly slated for an announcement in the coming weeks.

The announcement being one thing, but it remains to be seen if Apple can roll out Music HiFi before Spotify. Prior reports say that the iPhone maker may also not be charging extra for the higher music fidelity. If that is true, then the company will have really beaten Spotify to the punch.

Instagram Announces Reels And Music For Users In Malaysia

Facebook Malaysia has announced that it is bringing in Reels and Music to Instagram Stories in Malaysia. We’ve previously seen the feature being launched first in Brazil, and then in the US, UK, Japan and Australia.

From the looks of it, Reels is pretty much the same feature as when we saw them in the past two years. It is essentially Instagram’s version of TikTok, letting you make effects-laden 15-second videos. Of course, there’s a rich variety of those to work with. You can either record new 15-second clips, or upload pre-recorded ones and add effects from there. Completed Reels can be found in a special tab in your profile.

It’s much the same for Music, though for some reason you add them via the Music sticker. You can pick whatever is popular at the moment, or search for the exact one you want in the search bar. Once you found the one you want, you can use specific parts of it, and even add lyrics to them when you use it as part of your Instagram Stories. Naturally, you can also choose the way they show up on your Stories.

Both Reels and Music are now already available on the Instagram app for Malaysian users. If you don’t see it, either the app needs an update. Either that, or it’s still in the process of being rolled out in the background.