Serendip.ME: Listen to Great Music Powered by Your Music Soulmates
We all have the music we love to listen, but sometimes we get tired of hearing the same songs all over again. Websites and applications that work on recommending new (but similar) music are out there, and they are very popular. Look at Last.fm, Pandora or Rdio. However, in my experience the best way to discover new music I’ll like are friends with similar taste.
I’m sure your Twitter timeline and Facebook often contain links to music videos on Youtube. Based on the person that posted the video, I can usually guess if I will like it or not. The result is: some people’s music videos get ignored, and for some friends, I follow them religiously and search their profiles for songs.
My friends – My DJs
Serendip.ME is an application for music that will collect only the music users share on their social networks. You can then follow your friends’ feed and let your friends become your personal DJs. The application will, of course, recommend new users you could follow based on the users you are already following.
The music will mostly be from Youtube videos, since that is what people often use, but it will accept other services like SoundCloud, too. While you are listening to a song, you will see other users that have played that song as well. This way you are introduced to new streams you might find interesting.
You can always skip a song you’re playing if you do not like it. However, if you like it, you can let your friend/DJ know you approve of their choice. Of course, you can air music yourself and send it to people that follow you. While you are doing that, you have the option of automatically posting the song on your social networks with the tag #airing.
I like the idea behind Serendip.ME, but something about the design is just… off. I don’t like the way it presents music and the height of the page is weird on my 13″ laptop. It is just tall enough to require scrolling, but not a lot of scrolling so it seems redundant. I do see myself using it however, since the design is not the most important thing here. What Serendip.ME does, it does very well and it plays the music automatically, so I can just turn it on and enjoy it.
