Have you ever found yourself searching through Pandora (P) trying to discover new artists that you might like? Have you ever run out of “skips” and had to wait through a song you hate? A new application designed by two Tinder employees aims to help users discover new music using the same interface as the ultra-popular application.
Next helps connect artists to listeners around the world. The artists record, and upload, partial clips of their music onto the application’s platform. Users then watch 30-second excerpts of the uploaded music videos and subsequently swipe in a direction to signify their interest (much like the new job-finder app Jobr). If the user swipes the band to the right, the application gives users the opportunity to follow them, while also allowing them to share the band’s information via text, email, or Twitter (TWTR). The application is also different from other music apps, like Spotify and SoundCloud, because its main focus is the discovery of new content. If the user doesn’t like a band's sound, they can easily swipe to the next artist.
Tinder co-founder Christopher Gulczynski decided to stick with the swiping design because it’s “a UI convention that [we] really like, but [at] the core of it is [that] everyone is given the same amount of attention.” Gulczynski is also exploring the idea of bringing in smaller record labels, and management companies, to aide in the app's content development.
As of now, most music is from small, amateur bands that record covers of more popular songs (this helps discover new bands because you are unlikely to find a band you already know on Next). As Next becomes more popular, the quality of mobile content will likely increase. Eventually, the application will have all types of genres for people of all backgrounds.