Auto-Tune is the name of a pitch correction software, but it has become a generic term to describe any effect of this type.

Originally, Auto-Tune is the registered trademark of an audio processor created by the company Antares Audio Technologies in 1997. Its function is to analyze the pitch of an audio (usually a vocal) and automatically correct it to the nearest correct note within a predefined musical scale.

Corrective Use vs. Creative Effect

Auto-Tune can be used in two main ways:

1. Corrective Use: With subtle settings, it corrects minor imperfections in a singer's pitch transparently, almost imperceptibly, so that the performance sounds perfectly in tune.

2. Creative Use (The "Auto-Tune Effect"): With fast and aggressive settings, pitch correction becomes instantaneous and artificial, creating a robotic and "bouncy" effect between notes. This sound was popularized by artists like Cher and T-Pain, and has become a sonic signature of genres such as pop, hip-hop, and trap.

Today, although many other pitch correction software programs exist (such as Melodyne and Waves Tune), the term "Auto-Tune" is often used generically to refer to any of them.