Why is it so hard to build a successful music social network?

Why'd You Push That Button?

Vox Media Podcast Network

Society & Culture, Arts, Technology, Design

4.4 • 683 Ratings

🗓️ 17 April 2018

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We’re chugging along with Why’d You Push That Button. We’ve got a few more episodes left in the season, and today’s is about music social networks. Kaitlyn loves stalking her friends’ Spotify feeds, whereas I keep my account hidden from everyone. I just want to listen to Britney Spears in peace. I can’t have Kaitlyn texting me every time I listen, you know? Spotify used to let people direct message tracks, but it has since removed that feature, which just leaves us with the friend feed. Why isn’t Spotify building out its social features? Does the company hate us? We brought Jordan McMahon, a social music fan, as well as The Verge’s own Micah Singleton onto the show to discuss why they like seeing their friends’ activity. Then we talk to Charlie Kaplan, the CEO of Cymbal, a social music app, about why his company is shutting down and why it’s so hard to make a sticky social music experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:32.9	Hello, welcome to Why'd You Push That Button, a show where Ashley Carmen,
0:41.6	Hello, and Caitlin Tiffany, that's me, examine that tiny decisions technology forces us to make.
0:47.4	Forces us. We have no choice in the matter. Actually, we do. Yep. That's the whole point of the show,
0:53.1	people. You do have a choice, but you're forced to make a decision.
0:55.8	We do believe in human will on the show.
0:58.9	Anyway, today we're talking about Spotify, specifically the little sidebar in the desktop
1:05.2	version of the app that you can only see if the window is expanded to almost your entire
1:09.6	screen.
1:10.3	The sidebar that shows what your friends are listening to.
1:12.9	We're talking about that.
1:14.0	Why do you look at it?
1:15.1	What is compelling about it?
1:16.7	Why do you care?
1:17.4	Do you love it?
1:18.1	Do you hate it?
1:19.6	Well, okay, I just want to say right from the onset, this feels to me like a big Caitlin episode.
1:25.4	To me, like this question relates back to the Venmo episode
	...

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