Alibaba’s Happy Shrimp brings AI songwriting to phones in China

Alibaba’s AI songwriting service Happy Shrimp has reached mobile devices in China. Chinese outlets reported the iPhone and Android rollout on November 13. Apple’s Chinese App Store lists the iPhone app, and Happy Shrimp’s Chinese download page points to both platforms. The mobile release brings a web tool for making vocal songs or instrumentals from a written description to an installed app.

Apple is listing version 0.2.14. Its public catalog records November 1 as the app’s release date and November 9 as the date of that version, both earlier than the November 13 coverage of the mobile rollout. The Android installer is distributed through a separate link on Happy Shrimp’s Chinese site.

Songs from a description or a set of lyrics

The developer’s store listing says users can describe a mood, a story, an era or a musical style. Someone working on a graduation video, for example, could describe a quiet autumn sound without specifying the tempo or key. A songwriter who already has lyrics can supply them for the service to set to music, arrange and sing. The listing also describes an instrumental option for a track without vocals.

Happy Shrimp shows instrumental and automatic-lyrics modes in both its Chinese and English web versions. Instrumental mode can suit a video whose dialogue would compete with singing. On November 14, the web interface showed two songs per generation in its initial settings. The mobile listing describes the two modes and leaves the number of tracks per request unspecified.

At the August debut, Alibaba Cloud described a model that makes the lyrics, melody, arrangement and vocals as parts of one track. It also directed readers to a web address for the service in English. The new access route is the mobile app. Apple’s entry for version 0.2.14 lists bug fixes and changes to how artwork loads.

What the Chinese storefront lists

The Chinese App Store lists the download as free and displays separate in-app purchases. On November 14, those included standard and professional membership entries priced at 30 yuan and 120 yuan, alongside other amounts under the same plan names. The store also showed a 1,000-point purchase for 19 yuan. Larger bundles included 5,000 points for 89 yuan and 20,000 for 299 yuan. The list gives prices and item names. It leaves out the points used per track and the number of songs covered by the 30-yuan item.

Apple lists iOS 17 or later for iPhone and iPadOS 17 or later for iPad. Its compatibility section also lists Macs with macOS 14 or later and an M1 chip or newer. The Chinese listing shows a 91.2 MB download and an age rating of 13 and up. The listing names Simplified Chinese and English as the app’s languages. Storefront availability is a separate matter. A lookup for the same app identifier on November 14 returned the Chinese listing but yielded no result in Apple’s South Korean or US catalogs.

The Android file linked by the Chinese download page was reachable on November 14, and its filename identifies version 0.2.13. The two versions are distributed through different channels. The Apple storefront has the iPhone release, while Happy Shrimp also offers an Android installer directly. The filename describes that specific download, separate from versions offered elsewhere.

The English-language web version remained open in beta on November 14. Its page shows a field for describing a track and controls for instrumental music or automatic lyrics. That web interface was visible during the checks of US and South Korean iPhone availability. The service’s page displayed no date for an App Store rollout in either market.