Over the last few months, Localify team members have been hard at work to make the app better, smoother, and more cohesive than ever. That hard work paid off. Today, we hit the ground running as we officially relaunch Localify, continuing to help users all across the continent connect with local musicians and events in their area.
Two years in the making
In the summer of 2019, team members — a group of IC students and professor Doug Turnbull — worked around the clock to bring Localify to life. Our original mission? To help people find local concerts and support local artists.
We were inspired by the way ‘Shop Local’ and ‘Eat Local’ initiatives draw support for local businesses. In buying local, consumers help filter money back into their communities. Supporting local venues, booking agencies and artists functions in the same way. By paying a cover to see a local band perform at a brewery or buying concert tickets to a show at a local venue, you are directly supporting artists and showrunners all around you.
When COVID-19 hit in the Spring of 2020, we were forced to take a step back. Live shows were cancelled. So, we focused on spreading awareness of local artists instead. We published blog posts on the importance of supporting local music during the pandemic and continued to curate Spotify playlists for users based on their listening trends.
But there was only so much we could do. We are an app based around live music, after all. But now that artists are returning to the stage, we figured now was as good a time as ever to jump back in — and we are ready to share it with the world.
I’m in! How does it work?
It’s easy. Head to localify.org and join using your Spotify login. (If you don’t have one, you can join as an anonymous user, but to use the app to its full capacity, we recommend logging in!)
Once you’re in, you’ll be asked to pick your favorite ‘seed’ artists. These are the artists that you feel define your music taste, and will help us determine what kinds of artists and events to recommend. Do that, and you’re set: our ‘recommendations’ page will pop up with local artists and events you’ll find interest in.
The best part? You’re not limited to one area. You can choose to set your preferences based on different cities. For example, I split my time between Ithaca, NY and Minneapolis, MN — so I added both cities to my page. From here, you can have Localify make you a Spotify playlist for those areas based on your listening trends. “Localify — Ithaca” or “Localify — Minneapolis” will pop up in your Spotify playlists, ready for all of your listening needs. These playlists consist of both your seed artists and local artists you might not know, giving you a sense of familiarity all while introducing you to new artists in your area.
You can return to the Localify page whenever you want to check out what events are coming up in your area. You can even add concerts to your calendar and save them to your page for later!
Localify is ultimately a tool to help you better connect with, and support, artists and showrunners in your community. Now that we’re officially back — you’ve got no time to waste! Head to localify.org now to start your journey into local music. We hope you have a good one!
Three ways you can help!
- Try it out and tell us what you think using our feedback form.
- Tell your friends about Localify. We are poor students and do not plan to rely on paid advertisements.
- Add hometowns for your favorite artists on your detailed artist pages. Knowing where more artists are from helps everyone discover local artists!
Over the last few months, Localify team members have been hard at work to make the app better, smoother and more cohesive than ever. That hard work paid off. Today, we hit the ground running as we officially relaunch Localify, continuing to help users all across the continent connect with local musicians and events in their area.
Note: This Localify.org blog post was originally written by my student Brontë Cook (Head of Outreach for Localify.org) and edited by me. I wanted to post it on my personal blog since it does a great job of describing some of the hard work we have been doing on Localify.org during the ups and (mostly) downs during the COVID-19 pandemic.