Final Project Proposal: Musical Community-Building in a Time of Isolation

The current COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered every facet of daily life as we know it. Unemployment in the U.S. is at a record high; schools, churches, and all social gatherings have been cancelled until further notice; even going outside for a walk requires careful consideration (Will I be able to stay 6 feet away from others? Do I have something I could fashion into a mask?). Times such as these are nearly unprecedented (certainly in modern times) and understandably scary. And extreme isolation, while obviously necessary to combat the spread of COVID-19, has left many people feeling lonely, sad, and frustrated.

Certainly, now more than ever we have the technology to keep us emotionally connected while physically apart: Zoom happy hours, game nights through Jackbox and Houseparty, and Facebook and Instagram challenges have become the norm for interaction in the past few weeks. But still, it is easy for boredom and loneliness to creep in, and not all communities and interest groups are being well-served (or at least served to the best of their ability) through these platforms.

My idea for a final project comes from an experience I had last week. A group of my college friends and I have begun hosting weekly hangouts through Houseparty, where we play games, chat, and generally try to think about anything other than the current situation in which we find ourselves. Last week, I had Spotify playing on my laptop while I used Houseparty on my phone, allowing my friends to (vaguely) hear my music while we hung out. At one point, the song “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd (a current favorite for Tik Tok videos) came on, and the whole group – all six of us – spontaneously broke into dance for the entirety of the song. It was honestly the most genuinely joyful experience I’d had since I began self-quarantining 3 weeks prior, and afterward the mood of the group was palpably lifted. This moment of connection through music had given us something positive to hold onto – a small moment with a big impact. And in times such as these, I think that these small moments are not only meaningful, but needed.

This experience got me thinking: Couldn’t some technology exist that allows moments like this to happen more often? Music is an integral part of the background of many people’s everyday: Imagine all the songs that drift through morning commutes, evenings spent cooking dinner, nights at parties or on a friend’s back porch. Entire communities that gather for the sole purpose of listening to music (concerts and festivals) will be unable to congregate until at least the fall, if not longer. Music naturally brings people together and gives new meaning to a moment. And while we’re physically isolated, I think music can do more to bring us together.

Therefore, my idea for the final project in this class is to create an extension across an existing music platform (perhaps Spotify, since it’s quite widely-used) that allows groups of people to listen to the same playlist of music synchronously, much like listening to a radio station. To my knowledge, no extension such as this currently exists, and it isn’t built into Spotify’s existing functionality (I can’t speak to other platforms like Apple or Amazon Music). While the structure of playlists would remain the same – a playlist could either be created by one person or made into a collaborative playlist to which others can contribute – this extension would allow the playlist creator to hit play and for anyone with the link to the playlist to “tune in” and hear the music at the same time. The extension could possibly also allow for the option for other listeners to have equal control of the playlist, hitting pause, queuing the next song, or skipping a song. This could create a functionally similar environment to what you might experience at a friend’s party: Their playlist is playing over their speakers, but anyone could grab their phone and change what’s playing. 

I imagine this extension being used by two main groups. The first is as I just described – groups of friends. If my friends and I used this platform during our weekly Houseparty hangouts, we could each hear the music through our respective laptops (or speakers) instead of them hearing it in the background of our video session. They could change the song instead of having to ask me to change it, and we could all feel a little more united and with perhaps a bit more normalcy – this isn’t so much different from a normal hangout, we’re just in different places. The second group could be musical communities, fan groups, followers of an artist, etc. In this case, I imagine that a “leader” in one of these communities could make a playlist and play it at designated times, and others in the community could gather to listen as that person plays their playlist. Although this may not have as much built-in interaction, it could still create a sense of unity among those in the group, as they know that others are listening to the playlist along with them. And if someone well-known or famous created and aired their playlist, I could see people from all over the world tuning in to hear their Friday Night Mix. 

I am obviously open to collaboration and input on this idea, as I know it’s not perfect. (First off, it requires that someone has Spotify or another platform to even access it.) However, I do think that this is a project that could feasibly be created and that might allow for some small amount of good in this scary time. If anyone is interested in working on this or has any suggestions, I’m absolutely open to talking and thinking more!