Chinese tech giant Alibaba launched its own artificial intelligence music-making model this week, and the company says it can turn prompts like “millennial Mandarin pop” or “the dawnlike sensibility of urban folk” into fully produced songs for a price starting at less than $10.
Developed by Alibaba Token Hub, the artificial intelligence business group launched in March and directly overseen by Alibaba’s CEO Eddie Wu, Happy Shrimp 1.0 is partnering with TAIHE MUSIC GROUP, China’s leading music label and audio entertainment company. Currently in its beta version, Happy Shrimp lets users create, publish, discover, like and comment on AI-generated music on the site for memberships starting at $14.90 per month, or through the purchase of credit packages starting at $9.90.
Happy Shrimp joins Alibaba’s suite of Happy AI models, which include Happy Horse, an AI video generating service; and Happy Oyster, which uses AI to create three-dimensional interactive video for game developers. While e-commerce platforms including AliExpress and Taobao still make up the core of Alibaba’s operations, the Happy models are products of the company’s centralized AI research division Token Hub, which Wu created to bring more commercial AI models to market.
“Our first and foremost goal is to pursue [artificial general intelligence],” Wu said in February 2025 on a call with investors, according to a Bloomberg report. “We aim to continue to develop models that extend the boundaries of intelligence.”
For the music industry, the past year has been dominated by a race between AI music platforms competing for growth and capital; music companies seeking to earn from and be a part of whatever comes next; and others who are against the tech-music combination altogether. The leading U.S.-based AI music platform Suno recently announced its second licensing agreement with a big music company, inking a deal with BMG after it reached a similar agreement with Warner Music Group. Spotify recently announced it will start labeling AI music in September, and is rolling out an AI remix function with partnerships with UMG, Merlin and Kobalt.
Happy Shrimp’s website says the model “treats music as a language with its own grammar, semantics and context — planning lyrics, melody, arrangement and vocals together instead of stitching separate parts together, so the whole track comes out as one coherent piece.”
Users can type in prompts, long or short, using professional music-making lingo or internet speak, and Happy Shrimp can spit out a fully-produced track in seconds, the site says.
Alibaba and TAIHE, described as a strategic partner in Happy Shrimp, are exploring additional opportunities “such as artist co-creation and high-quality content development,” according to a post on Alibaba’s English language corporate news site Alizila.
The AI music tool also says on its website that it will be at the Aranya Xiami Music & Arts Festival on the Aranya coast in China’s northern province of Hebei on Aug. 28. Details were not disclosed. The lineup for the three-day festival includes Chinese artists including Mavis Fan, Lao Lang and Chen Li, and U.S., Australian and European groups like Tortoise, Frente! and The Cardigans.
