Launching earlier this year, Zubble is an app which aims to bring the music industry and the social media world together. The ideology which underpins the app is that the discovery of music should be a social activity, that users should be able share and discover the music they love with friends, tastemakers, artists and more. We sent Chris Jenkins to meet with Rob Tailford, the apps co-founder, to hear all about it.
Alongside Tom, the Zubble team is made up of two other co-founders, Tom Pickersgill and Jack Chamberlain. It began during Tom’s second year at the University of York, when he was cycling into town listening to a song that he wanted to share with friends, but there was not a dedicated platform to do this. The team, after speaking with potential users, felt that current discovery options such as radio, TV channels and impersonal algorithms were not quite good enough. Rob told me how they found “over 4 million #nowplaying and 100 million #music posts on Instagram alone, with people showcasing a desire to share songs with friends by posting a screenshot of what they are listening to, but you can’t listen to a screenshot!” From this, Zubble was born.
During the development stage, market research quickly highlighted how unsigned artists feel trapped on clunky media formats and often miss reaching prospective listeners. Zubble overcomes this issue by enhancing the discovery of up-and-coming musicians through the app. Rob stated that: “We offer a space for unsigned artists to not only grow, but interact with their next biggest fans. People chose content better than computers and algorithms, so if a friend shares their latest discovery on Zubble, that artist has great potential to grow exponentially and reach new fans.”
The app itself looks great, and I was instantly able to get to grips with how it all works. It integrates with Apple Music and Spotify to allow streaming from within the app itself and access to a huge database, so you can pretty much share any song you like. The app also allows you to post a caption and tag other users in a post – something which will be great for saying what the song means to you or writing a motivational line as we approach the end of exams and the start of summer!
Your Zubble Stream is constantly refreshed with music from those who you follow. Users can effortlessly find classics or hidden gems from their favourite genres through its ‘explore’ option. The key appeal of the app is that it creates a level playing field for talent. It situates the unsigned alongside mainstream artists, offering the opportunity to immerse yourself in music that you never knew you loved. It’s the perfect solution for ineffective connection between music fans, impersonal algorithms and stagnant content. The app is all about connecting with like-minded music fans and authentically discovering with people who you’re interested in.
Zubble is being supported by various artists all around the UK, from rock band City of Lights, Leeds soul star Mali Hayes and North West London rapper Knucks who have all jumped on board to speak about the potential of the app. Not surprisingly, the app is racing up the app store charts with an exponentially growing community. Finally, if you join now and gain twenty followers there’s a chance to win an £80 Ticketmaster voucher, so even more of an incentive to get your house and course mates on board!
After meeting Rob and hearing the Zubble story, I’m positive the future will hold great things for them.
Chris Jenkins
To find out what all the fuss is about, click here to download the app!