Tonight's Tunes

A live music discovery platform that connects local artists to audiences.

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Inspiration

At the SXSW Music Festival and Conference, I realized that local artists are always trying to reach a new audience and create content. However, there is no application that tackles this issue at a local level. I wanted to help local artists grow their audience locally through a casual concert posting platform.

What it does

Tonight's Tunes is a platform that connects local artists to audiences, allowing people to discover new artists and music. The local artists organize "casual concerts" which can be hosted anywhere from a bedroom to a park to a concert venue and post information about it. When a user signs up, they select their preferences including their favorite genres, the maximum distance that they are willing to travel, their ideal event size, dates and times that they are free, and their price range. Depending on their preferences, the matching algorithm will showcase local casual concerts that are hosted, creating opportunities to enjoy new art with friends and family. This will help the artists grow their audience and gain invaluable feedback about their performance, helping them improve. Now, whenever someone is wondering what tunes to listen to, they can explore local live concerts hosted by smaller artists through Tonight's Tunes.

How I built it

I built the web-application with HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. I built it in the VS Code IDE. I created a web-based application because the responsive functionality of the site will allow for it to be used on anything from a phone to a tablet to a computer, increasing accessibility.

Challenges I ran into

I initially had a team of three, but they could not make it to the hackathon, and the partner I found at the hackathon had to leave due to a family emergency. Building the application was difficult because I usually focus on front-end, so I decided to create a responsive web-application instead of a mobile application, but, in the future, I plan on creating a mobile application to further develop my idea. I attended the SXSW NPR Music Concert in the middle of the hackathon for a chance to speak with some local artists about my idea, and I was able to connect with the Host, Bob Boilen, who provided invaluable feedback and gave me his contact to talk more in the future. Once I analyzed the business market, proved the concept, and created a few designs, I began coding Tonight's Tunes.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Due to the limited time and my one-man team, I am proud that I was able to create a useful project. The idea is very well thought out, and has scope for further development.

What I learned

I learned the true value of a team through this project. In my past few hackathons, I have always worked with a team of artists and computer science students, serving as the team leader. It was very challenging to create the technology all by myself, so this experience will help me be a better leader in any future hackathons or business ventures.

What's next for Tonight's Tunes

I am interested in advancing Tonight's Tunes into a social platform that allows audiences and artists to connect, collaborate, inspire each other, and help each other grow through feedback. In addition, innovating a VR/AR component which allows for an immersive online live music experience for those that can't travel to the local venue will increase accessibility. Regarding merchandise and brand development, I could develop a cryptocurrency and leverage Blockchain's public ledger for transactions, which could include partnering up the local small artists with some clubs, concerts, and other festivals. I can help the artists grow and find even more opportunities to share their work, including an interface which allows for them to upload their songs for individual purchase or subscription for all of the songs on the platform for a monthly rate. I can improve the matching algorithm to allow users to indicate artists--both famous and local--that they enjoy, utilizing natural language processing and machine learning to analyze these songs and determine local artists that match their interests. In addition, there could be a crowdfunding component to support the local artists financially. However, it is vital that I find a team in order to achieve this.

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