What’s your favorite recent music discovery, and how did you find them?

Probably “Are You Looking Up” by Mk.gee. Actually the whole record is amazing. A friend of mine posted the album on his instagram story and I checked it out on a whim. Normally I might just flip past a post like that but I think he also wrote something like “this is best record I’ve heard all year” on the post, and I trust his taste so I jumped over to Spotify to look up the record and immediately fell in love.

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Why would you normally flip past a post like that?

I don’t mean that in a rude way, but it’s just like…when I’m mindlessly browsing through instagram stories, there’s really nothing on offer when someone shares the album art of a song. I can’t hear the music, I don’t know anything about the artist, or the genre, or have any real context. And also, I’m in the middle of doom-scrolling, so leave me alone! Browsing traditional social media just generally does not put me in the right headspace to be discovering or falling in love with a new artist.

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So then what made you go check out Mk.gee instead of just continuing to scroll like you normally would?

I think it was a combination of my friend’s emphatic recommendation, and also the fact that he’s a person whose musical taste I really trust. He’s in a band and I love the music he makes, so I’m generally interested in the music that he thinks is cool.

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Do you have other friends whose music taste you trust, and do they also share music on social media?

I actually have a LOT of friends whose musical taste I respect and trust, but not many of them share music on their socials. I don’t think Instagram (or any other social media platform, for that matter) is set up for sharing music in the same way it’s set up for sharing other types of content. When you post a song on your socials you are rarely rewarded with that dopamine hit from feedback and likes and comments probably because, firstly, all you can share from most streaming platforms is an album cover with no sound – which is not very exciting content. And because it’s not very exciting, it’s getting buried underneath all the viral stuff that tends to get more attention on trad social media – puppy pics or baby pics or job announcements or whatever other salacious thing is on your feed that day. So the odds are really stacked against simply “sharing a song” getting any attention or positive feedback on an app like Instagram.

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So is that where Circles comes in? How does Circles change that? Well, the whole point of Circles is to share music with friends. So right away we are eliminating all the distractions and creating a more mindful music discovery and sharing experience. Your feed is just music that your friends are vibing with, and that’s it. You can listen to it easily, you can comment on it, share it, or save it to your own playlist. It’s like…an anti-algorithm, A friend-algorithm. And by the way, we aren’t necessarily against music algorithms, or any of the ways that streaming platforms present new music. Those companies have it totally dialled, it’s really incredible. But I think there’s a big difference between getting a recommendation from a computer and getting a recommendation from a friend. I’m willing to bet (and can confirm through many interviews that we’ve conducted, actually!) that nine times out of ten a person is more willing and receptive to a new music recommendation when it comes from someone they know and trust.

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What effect do you think algorithms have had on music in the past few years?

I would say the main thing that algorithms do, for better or for worse, is keep people in their comfort zone. And once you’re in a certain lane, it’s very hard to break out. The computer learns what you like, and it feeds you the same thing over and over. Boring!!

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What are the best — and worst — parts of being a music fan in 2024?

I would say the best thing about being a music fan in 2024 is the sheer amount of new music that comes out every day, and the worst thing about being a music fan in 2024…is the sheer amount of new music that comes out every day! There’s a big saturation of incredible new music, and I actually think a lot of fans are becoming pretty accepting of the fact that a new artist they discover and fall in love with may never be able to tour or do a show in their area. Fans are getting pretty wise to the economics of being an artist these days, and they empathize. To that end, there seems to be a lot of willingness from fans to jump in early and support an act they’ve just discovered, if they’re given the chance to do so.

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How does Circles allow fans to support artists?

Well I think the first step is giving artists access to detailed information about who, specifically, is listening to and sharing their music. If you share a song on Circles, the artist can see that. And the artist will have access to you. There needs to be an open line of communication between the artist and the listener. So much of the social media game for artists right now is fighting through viral content in order to re-capture the attention of someone who already decided to follow them. It’s incredibly frustrating, and honestly untenable. And beyond the initial connection, we do have plans with Circles to enable certain degrees of patronage and deeper fandom for any listeners who want to support artists they love.