4 ms·

Bono predicted, Woz endorsed it

6 points by watsonc73 13y ago

watsonc73 13y ago
The app goes live tomorrow in both the App store and Play Store. We'd love to hear your thoughts on the overall concept and on the product itself (more importantly) when it goes live.
- dsyph3r 13y ago
  Would be good if this information was on the website. I was trying to find out if it was available for android but couldn't find anything about it (or the app in general). That aside though, this looks really great.
  - watsonc73 13y ago
    Hi dsyph3r - the app will be available on Android too. I'll follow up with the relevant link tomorrow when it's live. Looking forward to seeing you on on the app!
- shavingspiders 13y ago
  This may sound foolish, but what actually is it? I don't have the time to watch the videos, and I'm on my phone and there's no text only 'about' to be read. From what I gather, it's a music social network that puts you in contact with people nearby with the same music taste? It's like scrobbling on last.fm, but with something special than 'Bono predicted' and Woz liked? After his comments voicing support for the Great Firewall as a method of preventing music piracy, I don't really pay much attention to Bono.
  - watsonc73 13y ago
    Hey shavingspiders - no problem, happy to elaborate. In short, it's a way to find out what music is being listened to and where in real-time. It's not a 'connecting' tool per se because we keep the location info anonymized and aggregated (so you can see top played charts by genre/time in different locations). As mentioned above, there is also the social element so that you have an open graph of music listens amongst your network. I take your point about Bono. Disclaimer though: I'm Irish so may be a little biased!
onion2k 13y ago
I can't say anything about the app as I've not used it. However, the concept is (in my opinion) flawed for a large number of potential users - the music my friends listen to is absolutely no indication of what I might like. I'm too old. I've spent the past 30 or so years (I'm 36) developing a taste of my own. I no longer meet or socialise with people around music (eg go to gigs with friends). Similarly, my "favourites" are people I admire and respect for things entirely different to what their music tastes are. Most of the new music I find these days is based on what I listen to already or in curated theme-based playlists from sites like http://ShareMyPlaylists.com http://ShareMyPlaylists.com. Automating something like music discovery from a social graph is skewed (in my opinion again, and based on instinct rather than science) towards young people who still socialise in what I would call "taste networks" - groups based around shared tastes. Older people don't do that in my experience. Good luck with it though. There's still a giant market out there. And I'll still try it just to see what it thinks I might enjoy.
- ohwp 13y ago
  I agree. It's very difficult to estimate someones taste. For example I like a hardcore band but only because they are different from all other hardcore bands. Most programs will estimate I like hardcore but that isn't the case. I'm not sure but I think I like the music I like because they have this special 'mood' that fits me. And the lyrics are also important for me. Question is: how can we turn this into meta data suitable for matching.
  - watsonc73 13y ago
    Interesting question ohwp. I do think that recommendation systems are only going to get better. Lyrics and sentimental analysis are definitely going to play a part in that. One of the main reasons we built Soundwave though was to take a more human based approach to music discovery. Personally, I'd take three friends who have similar hardcore tastes than me over any system (currently built) because I too was annoyed at how poor the recommendations were. Our app will hopefully reduce the friction in finding those people with similar tastes.
- watsonc73 13y ago
watsonc73 13y ago
Just wanted to report that the app is now live and can be downloaded on the App Store and Play Store https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/soundwave-music-discovery/id623353909?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/soundwave-music-discovery/id... and https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.soundwave.soundwave&hl=en_GB https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.soundwave.s...

6 points by watsonc73 13y ago

The app goes live tomorrow in both the App store and Play Store. We'd love to hear your thoughts on the overall concept and on the product itself (more importantly) when it goes live.

dsyph3r 13y ago
Would be good if this information was on the website. I was trying to find out if it was available for android but couldn't find anything about it (or the app in general). That aside though, this looks really great.
- watsonc73 13y ago
  Hi dsyph3r - the app will be available on Android too. I'll follow up with the relevant link tomorrow when it's live. Looking forward to seeing you on on the app!
shavingspiders 13y ago
This may sound foolish, but what actually is it? I don't have the time to watch the videos, and I'm on my phone and there's no text only 'about' to be read. From what I gather, it's a music social network that puts you in contact with people nearby with the same music taste? It's like scrobbling on last.fm, but with something special than 'Bono predicted' and Woz liked? After his comments voicing support for the Great Firewall as a method of preventing music piracy, I don't really pay much attention to Bono.
- watsonc73 13y ago
  Hey shavingspiders - no problem, happy to elaborate. In short, it's a way to find out what music is being listened to and where in real-time. It's not a 'connecting' tool per se because we keep the location info anonymized and aggregated (so you can see top played charts by genre/time in different locations). As mentioned above, there is also the social element so that you have an open graph of music listens amongst your network. I take your point about Bono. Disclaimer though: I'm Irish so may be a little biased!

onion2k 13y ago

I can't say anything about the app as I've not used it. However, the concept is (in my opinion) flawed for a large number of potential users - the music my friends listen to is absolutely no indication of what I might like. I'm too old. I've spent the past 30 or so years (I'm 36) developing a taste of my own. I no longer meet or socialise with people around music (eg go to gigs with friends). Similarly, my "favourites" are people I admire and respect for things entirely different to what their music tastes are. Most of the new music I find these days is based on what I listen to already or in curated theme-based playlists from sites like http://ShareMyPlaylists.com http://ShareMyPlaylists.com. Automating something like music discovery from a social graph is skewed (in my opinion again, and based on instinct rather than science) towards young people who still socialise in what I would call "taste networks" - groups based around shared tastes. Older people don't do that in my experience. Good luck with it though. There's still a giant market out there. And I'll still try it just to see what it thinks I might enjoy.

ohwp 13y ago
I agree. It's very difficult to estimate someones taste. For example I like a hardcore band but only because they are different from all other hardcore bands. Most programs will estimate I like hardcore but that isn't the case. I'm not sure but I think I like the music I like because they have this special 'mood' that fits me. And the lyrics are also important for me. Question is: how can we turn this into meta data suitable for matching.
- watsonc73 13y ago
  Interesting question ohwp. I do think that recommendation systems are only going to get better. Lyrics and sentimental analysis are definitely going to play a part in that. One of the main reasons we built Soundwave though was to take a more human based approach to music discovery. Personally, I'd take three friends who have similar hardcore tastes than me over any system (currently built) because I too was annoyed at how poor the recommendations were. Our app will hopefully reduce the friction in finding those people with similar tastes.
watsonc73 13y ago

watsonc73 13y ago

Just wanted to report that the app is now live and can be downloaded on the App Store and Play Store https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/soundwave-music-discovery/id623353909?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/soundwave-music-discovery/id... and https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.soundwave.soundwave&hl=en_GB https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.soundwave.s...