While the music industry demands a commitment to artistry and creativity, artists must also take control of the business side, leveraging social media as a tool to create an image and market their work. Anis Rashid, a 2013 Commerce graduate, combined his business knowledge and passion for music to create a unique social networking app, Broken Records, which he launched in May this year.
According to Rashid, the app is designed to embrace the concept of music as a powerful social tool that can bridge the gap between people.
Rashid, who had been working as an investment banking analyst, followed his instincts and took the risky step of leaving his position in Goldman Sachs’ analyst program to pursue entrepreneurship full-time. But he attributes that decision to advice he received from college alumni. Lunch on the field with 2005 Commerce graduate and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
Ohanian, who was at the university on a promotional tour for his book Without Their Permission, gave Rashid first-hand advice on choosing between pursuing investment banking or pursuing an entrepreneurial idea.
“He basically had this idea.” [for a website] It sucks. You shouldn’t work on it, but you shouldn’t go back to Goldman either…I don’t think anyone has quit. [Goldman Sachs] Before their two years ended and after Goldman, almost everything I did was high risk and non-traditional. ”
A few years later, Rashid founded The Archive Company, a startup based in Brooklyn, New York. The company developed several other applications focused on interpersonal relationships prior to Broken Records. Early projects included Planet, an app that integrated messaging and shared photo albums, and Roll Call, a status app that shared daily selfies with friends. It is similar to the social media app BeReal.
His newest app, Broken Records, is designed to foster an organic community and create connections between music lovers around the world. In just a few months since its birth, the app has evolved into a widely popular platform. This is evidenced by its continued presence in the top charts of Apple’s music applications.
Broken Records allows users to rate, review, and share the music they’re interested in, and build social experiences based on their music tastes. It works in a similar structure to book and movie discussion apps Goodreads and Letterboxd, allowing users to create a profile and curate a collection of songs by “claiming” tracks as they listen. The faster a user claims a song than others, the more valuable it will be as a profile status.
Rashid said the competition to identify the top music before other users simulate a skill-based experience is what attracts and retains many users on the platform. The app also integrates new releases from streaming services into its platform, ensuring continuous new content and driving user engagement. Rashid said to encourage competition, the app controls how many users can submit songs each day and encourages them to be the first to discover songs.
“New Future mixtape released at midnight [Sept. 20]”Rashid said. “Then there were about 2,000 people trying to pick a song from there at the same time, and the app crashed – it was just one person.” [on the app] You can choose one song per day. ”
While many music apps already encourage sharing and discovery, Broken Records offers a unique social element. Users can see who is “playing” a particular song or artist, increasing awareness of music recommendations and connecting with others who share the same music. I’m just as interested as they are.
Rashid said he wanted to create the platform because existing social media apps fail to properly leverage music as a way to build relationships, despite the abundance of online avenues for connection.
“How do I make friends on the Internet?” Rashid said. “They don’t have to be your closest friends, but what are the foundations of friendship? And looking at my life and talking to a lot of young people, music can be very important to social identity and other people. It seems like a big part of how I connect with them.”
He said individuals, especially young people, continue to interact with close friends and family members through messaging systems, but are increasingly communicating with “hi-bye” acquaintances, or friends with whom they don’t have a close relationship with whom they rarely interact beyond a hello or goodbye. He said he believes there is a lack of connection. on their social periphery. Rashid said that “hi-bye” friends are actually central to a person’s identity, sense of belonging, and sense of well-being.
“Perhaps the problem isn’t that we don’t have enough ways to connect with the people we care about most,” Rashid says. “Perhaps the real problem is [that] People just don’t have enough people to connect with. ”
Rashid points out that small interactions, such as sharing a favorite song or artist, can lower the barrier to starting a conversation and help people form deeper connections with individuals they might not otherwise engage with. I did.
Rashid said he made the choice to better cater to the interests of a digitally savvy audience, especially to foster connections among young people. The app’s youth-friendly language is aimed at high school and college students, including encouraging “students” to “become active” by interacting with the app frequently.
Charlie Bischoff, a University of New Hampshire student and Broken Records user, said in a written statement that he downloaded the app over the summer. Bischoff has a collection of primarily soul and alternative pop songs, including songs by singers Black Hibiscus and Lana Del Rey. Bischoff said Broken Records has become part of his daily life.
“When I do this every morning, [New York Times] Wordle and Connections, I insist on the Broken Records songs,” Bischoff said. “Seeing everyone’s favorite songs is the perfect cure for a lack of music.”
Looking back on his college days, Rashid credits the McIntire School of Business, particularly his undergraduate education, for training him in his entrepreneurial spirit. Specifically, Rashid credits Associate Professor Mark White for his work. Rashid was recognized for framing his approach to entrepreneurship during his teaching classes by emphasizing skepticism and independent thinking, which he believes are critical to success in today’s complex startup sector. He said that
Although Broken Records’ immediate future is uncertain due to the reactionary nature of the startup’s management, Rashid maintains a lofty but harmonious long-term outlook.
“Long term, I hope this is a place where the world talks about music,” Rashid said. “So I think what I’m trying to say is that culturally relevant conversations about music are happening here.”
Anyone interested in joining the platform can download Broken Records for free from the iPhone App Store.
