Just when you thought there weren’t any more ways one could use “social” as a modifier for music, along comes Soundtrckr (www.soundtrckr.com). What Soundtrackr has done is marry streaming music, shared playlists and geo-tagging. The result: what the company calls a “geosocial music service.”
What users can do is seed a “station” based on a song or artist on their device. Soundtrckr then the system starts driving related songs from Soundtrckr’s seven-million-track catalog (licensed from the labels so they’re not paying a webcasting royalty), based on the usual elements: genre, artist, band, album etc., etc. The added twist is that the playlists can be tagged to a location and the iPhone app can help users find fellow Soundtrckr’s and their playlists by location.
I started with a live track from a Los Lobos concert in 2005 in my hometown. What followed were some interesting, and by my ear and preferences, appropriate matches. (Like so many recommendation systems, some of the songs linked to the Los Lobos seed were just so obviously based on the highest-level, and therefore loosest relationship between artists. For example, there isn’t really a direct musical relationship between Los Lobos and Santana. We can chat offline about this if anybody would like to discuss.
Founder and CEO Daniele Calabrese said recently that the company looks to drive revenue from advertising, affiliate fees from driving sales to stores and services.
It all sounds interesting. The dynamic Calabrese’s team is trying to tap into – music’s power as social currency – has potential as a revenue driver. What remains to be seen is whether it develops into a standalone business or if it becomes an ingredient in a larger service offering from a content store or service, perhaps even a carrier.
Definitely one to watch in the intersection of social, mobile and music.
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