A few months ago I was at an independent record store on Main Street in Vancouver, Canada, surrounded by sobbing teenage girls. The reason they were sobbing is because their favorite artist was releasing a new album the next day, and they had all been invited to the record store to listen to the album in advance. In between each song was pin-drop silence, with the exception of a few sniffles (from the sobbing). When the album was finished playing, everyone in the room lined up obediently at the till and purchased a copy of the record on vinyl. They left the store giddily and headed off in their various directions. I was just as giddy as them when I left, brimming with optimism after what I'd just witnessed - a group of teenagers belonging to a generation who is relentlessly criticized for their lack of attention span, all sitting in silence listening to an entire album together from start to finish. To be working in the music industry in 2024 is to spend your days pouring over metrics, algorithms, follower counts, streams, views, and content creation - so my experience at the record shop was a nice and very-much-needed reminder that beyond all the data is a room full of human beings who just want to feel something. And when they feel something, they want to share that feeling with their friends. So I suppose that is the core mission for us with Circles - to make it easier and more enjoyable for people to share the music that makes them feel something. And beyond that - to be exposed to more music that might make them feel something in return. Each of us founders have similar anectodes to my record shop story, and it is through that lens of optimism that we are building Circles - for music lovers to connect with eachother (and with the artists they love), and to create a music economy where art can stand on its own regardless of metrics and data.