Synthesizing some discussion, I dreamed of this feature:
A version of the tracks list in which the users are doing “the wave” - an ephemeral collection of tracks rising and falling / crashing against the shore - with their listening history. If you miss the wave, you miss the wave.
Detailed description:
Track list in which users can view/play a list of tracks (paid - not played during free intro period) played by at least 2-3 unique users in the past hour, ordered by number of unique users-plays in the past hour
Privacy: list will include a small handful of random tracks for obfuscation
This can have some interesting network effects if 2-3 people collaborate to make a wave by conspiring to play a playlist at the same time.
Users looking at the wave would be able to ride the wave by tapping on a track on the list and clicking on a track, just like the existing track list. If users come back an hour later, there might be some ripples remaining of a previous wave but the list would be replaced by a new wave, or some droplets of random tracks.
Love the idea and the imagery. @boopboop I feel like this is interesting enough that we could put it on the main page of the Player. I’d love to have a sense of what other listeners are up to at that exact moment – gives that sense of life we’re looking for.
Also, the idea that a wave only hits if multiple users are playing it around the same time is smart. The wave won’t be easily exploitable by a single user who just wants to promote their track.
I’m still not sure I understood the concept exactly but reading the description was quite a ride (litterally… Almost).
How would the wave look like from a listener perspective? Does it take the form of a playlist? How do I encounter the during my experience on the player? Is it a dedicated page or does it come to me through the UI? (note that I just imagined a graphic watery noise appearing in the header letting me know silently that a wave just started) You mention a list of tracks and add “(paid)” which I didn’t understand, what did you mean? Is there a difference in payment like, the songs in a wave are free of charge for a short amount of time?
Sorry for all the questions I feel a bit thick.
Lovely description nonetheless, more of those please.
UI: I was thinking to not be overcomplicated and just use existing tracklist page / UI with the option to pick ‘recently played’ in the picker. If the feature is useful it could have its own page and UI.
paid / not paid: This was in reference to only using those plays that were paid for by the listener, to exclude the free plays new users receive automatically.
checking in on the page at various times of the day makes it pretty clear that there’s ‘dead zones’ when nobody is using the app. Perhaps it would make sense to schedule some social shares during these times?
This could also be a good time to bring up the tastemaker concept, someone who could help fill in discovery gaps.
feature:
during my experience on the player? Is it a dedicated page or does it come to me through the UI? (note that I just imagined a graphic watery noise appearing in the header letting me know silently that a wave just started) You mention a list of tracks and add “(paid)” which I didn’t understand, what did you mean? Is there a difference in payment like, the songs in a wave are free of charge for a short amount of time?
