Finding new music to love is debatably one of the greatest experiences ever (besides maybe petting the underbelly of a bunny or achieving world peace). The music streaming app Songza aims to take this noble quest to a custom made level.
Songza, both an app and a website, was developed by music geeks and experts in Long Island in 2010. This app is unique because it uses a flowchart style “Concierge” to help listeners narrow down their current filter through music and choose a suitable playlist based on the day and time, designated activities, and genres.
For example, when I used the Concierge to find music to write this article to, it gave me six activity options for a Sunday Night (see photo walk-through) where I chose “Studying (No Lyrics)” so I could focus. From there, Songza gave me six genres to pick from. I happened to be in the mood for the “Film Scores for Cinephiles” option.
Songza then offered three very different playlists of film scores—“Western Movie Scores,” “Scores that Inspired “The Artist,” and “Pop Artists Turned Composers.” I first listened to the lovely “The Artist” playlist, and while it was delightful, it was not as aggressive as I wanted my music to be.
I needed kick-butt music. Upon returning to the playlist options, I selected “Western Movie Scores” and squared off with my laptop, even though I don’t particularly have an affinity to Western movies.
However, for those who really want to seek out new music, the Concierge may be ignored in favor of manually browsing through Songza’s playlists by Activities, Moods, Genres, and Decades. This seemed to be the chosen method of Songza navigation by BJHS senior Cheyenne Beacraft, a Songza user who says her favorite part of Songza is “being able to explore through all the different genres.”
In my music quest through this app feature, I have found a pleasantly
eclectic plethora of interesting playlists. Who knew I would end up jamming to
“Essential Afrobeat,” cleaning to “Saving the World from Evil,” feeling the spirit of
“Too Close to Heaven: Classic Gospel,” or reading a book to “Literate Indie.” Others
find an awesome playlist they enjoy and stick with it. “I used to wake up on Fridays and use the ‘Indie Morning’ playlist,” says Mary Butgereit, a senior who routinely listens to Songza.
While other music streaming apps and sites like Pandora or Spotify do provide personalized music streaming, Songza specializes in creating music for the moment. According to Eric Davich, one of the creators of Songza, in an interview with his Alma Mater’s news site, Songza’s hand-picked playlists for every situation give Songza a human quality. While other apps seem to mechanically mix music together, with Songza, he says “people think, ‘Wow, how did Songza know that was exactly what I needed right now? They know me better than my boyfriend!’”
Songza, being a free app, does have a few nonintrusive ads along with a skiplimit. If these things are too bothersome and one has the means, Songza does offer a paid version of itself with no ads or skip limits. However, with whichever version, Songza will provide assistance if the app malfunctions. I actually had this experience before, and a kindly gent named Jason helped me out.
Whether a listener needs music for grooving, crying, or yelling obscenities at the idiots driving on Hughes, Songza will find the right score.
