It seems like audio is the next wave in social, if we’re looking at VC activity invested into the space. With Clubhouse raising millions at a $100M valuation, it appears like they now have a target on their back. I know of a few teams going after them directly, who will likely fail. I recently heard of one that Matt Mazzeo (Former MD at Lowercase Capital with Chris Sacca) and Brian Wagner are working on one that is taking a different approach. The app is called Roadtrip.
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How it works
First off, it’s important to know that Roadtrip is built on top of the Spotify API, so it has an inherent focus on music throughout the whole experience. Once you get into the app, you’re met with a list of different rooms. Each room is playing a different playlist, and you can see the name of the playlist on top of each room. You’re also able to see other people in the room before you enter. From the main page, you can tell which rooms are bumpin with 20 people and which ones aren’t, with a solo DJ (That’s me most of the time).
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When you click into a room, you’ll see the room speaker, or what I call the DJ, in the middle top of the screen. Then everyone who is listening to the music is in the listening section. Listeners can <3 songs, which Roadtrip actually tracks on a leaderboard, where the “DJs’ with the most hearts are ranked.
Listeners can also suggest songs for the DJ to play, and the DJ can accept or deny the songs. Matt says he wants its users to get the “Turntable vibes” with the app, which was a similar product built years ago but didn’t make it. On top of all the music features, there is also audio chat built into the app.
It has Clubhouse-like audio features
The DJs in a room are able to bring audience members up to the stage to join them. Once someone is on the stage, they can unmute themselves and talk to the DJ and anyone in the listening area. The idea here is that you can have music playing in the background while you chat with strangers and friends on the app. The common theme that ties everything together is music. Everything is based on music and playlists.
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Are you more of a rap fan or are you just in the mood for acoustic. The beauty behind this app is that you can find other people in the mood for that same music, by just entering a room with that type of jam. To learn more about the “why” of the app, feel free to read Matt’s blog post on the topic and how he wants the app to feel like "Summer Camp” all over again.
Current downsides
So the app has a lot to love. Also, it’s worth mentioning that the app is less than a month old. So the progress is impressive. With that said, there are some rough spots with it.
The app is VERY buggy. This can be expected with an app this early, but don’t be surprised if you get kicked off the app after joining, you try to add songs to your playlist and aren’t able to, or the app freezes in random spots. It’s annoying but part of the process
It doesn’t seem like people are talking very often over the music. It feels like the primary feature of the app is the co-listening to music, and people MAY talk. But in my experience on the app, it’s rare. I would love there to be more conversation so i can get to know people on there and make friends. This is one of the benefits of Clubhouse, a competitor to Roadtrip.
How to get it
The app is in invite only mode right now. Anyone can get on the waiting list here. If you’re a paying subscriber of Forward Thinking Media, please respond to this email and I can send you the Testflight link that will get you immediate access. If you want immediate access but aren’t a paying subscriber, looks like their no time like the present to support me as a creator and become a paying subscriber of Forward Thinking Media :)
