DEEP DIVE

Behind hum

I started trying to write songs at sixteen. I had riffs, verses and plenty of ideas, but never a finished song. I always imagined having someone in the room to create with me. During a songwriting course at Rimon School of Music, my classmates offered feedback and helped me develop the lyrics. With their help and Hemi Rudner’s support, I finally completed my first song. That experience shaped the question behind hum: how could other musicians find that kind of creative support?

Elad performing his song on stage with Hemi Rudner
Performing my first completed song with Hemi Rudner at Rimon’s end-of-course show.

MARKET RESEARCH

A survey of independent musicians and songwriters explored the barriers to finishing music and collaborating with others.

89%

Reported having musical ideas they hadn’t turned into songs.

76%

Struggled to find collaborators who felt like a musical or personal fit.

73%

Hesitated to share unfinished ideas because of fear, uncertainty or lack of confidence.

THE LANDSCAPE

The benchmark compares Vampr, BandLab, Suno, Fiverr and hum across five criteria relevant to developing unfinished musical ideas.

Five platforms compared across five criteria for developing unfinished musical ideas
FEATUREVAMPRBANDLABSUNOFIVERRhum
Supports unfinished ideasNoYesYesYesYes
Ideas-first collaborationNoNoYesNoYes
Personal & musical alignmentYesNoNoNoYes
Focused collaborationNoNoYesYesYes
Human-first (not AI-driven)YesYesNoYesYes

THE TAKEAWAY

Make it easy to start, clear where to contribute, and worthwhile to help. These three priorities guided the design decisions that follow.

DESIGN DECISIONS

Start with a sound

An early version, called Drafity, already supported recording, but Home led with search, creator cards and match percentages. Feedback during a job interview echoed my concern that it felt like a matchmaking network. I brought recording to the centre of Home so creators could start with a rough idea before looking for collaborators. ‘Just hum, play, or sing’ makes that invitation explicit.

Drafity Home, with creator cards and musical match percentages
Hum Home, with recording as the central action

Drafity · Earlier

hum · Current

Show what’s missing

Publishing an idea raised another question: how would the right collaborators reach it? The earlier confirmation offered notifications, browsing and sharing. I added a direct next step based on what the idea needs: choose Rhythm or Production, listen to suggested musicians and invite someone to contribute. This gives the creator a concrete way to move the collaboration forward.

The earlier Drafity publication confirmation
Hum suggests musicians for the missing Rhythm or Production role

Drafity · Earlier

hum · Current

Make helping visible

Helping someone else finish a song takes time and creative effort. Shared credits recognise that contribution, while submission to hum Radio gives selected collaborations a chance to be heard. The intention is to make contributing worthwhile through both recognition and potential exposure.

The completed song credits the collaborator and offers submission to hum Radio
Submit for
review

Completion & shared credit

hum Radio · Selected tracks

WHAT’S NEXT

The next step is to test the experience with musicians using their own unfinished ideas.

  1. Sharing an unfinished idea — Observe where creators hesitate between recording and publishing, and whether the language and feedback help them feel ready to share.
  2. Finding someone to invite — Test whether missing roles, collaborator details and audio previews give creators enough information to choose whom to approach.
  3. Contributing to someone else’s song — Explore whether shared credit and potential radio exposure motivate musicians to contribute, and what else they need before getting involved.