FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Tech

New Dating App Mix'd Is Basically Techno Tinder

Finally.

Everyone knows Tinder is the big, bad app that made meeting people online for a quick drink (or just a quickie) "mainstream." But these days, the frontier of modern dating has diversified, with a new dating app for every kind of person—from Raya ("Tinder for famous people") to Bumble ("feminist Tinder"). Except for one key demographic: people who fux hard with music. Which is why Mix'd, a new app that launched last week with a party at New York City club Verboten, seems like a brilliant idea that, frankly, should have come up sooner.

Advertisement

The idea behind Mix'd is simple: you create an account and select your favorite DJs and musicians. The app has a huge database thanks to using the API of Echo Nest, a "music intelligence company" that was bought by Spotify last year, and even when I tested the app by searching for more obscure acts, it managed to successfully call up almost all of them. Mix'd also has a handy algorithm that suggests similar artists based on the ones you've selected, so building your entire profile is pretty quick and mindless—this isn't OK Cupid.

Because your account is linked to Facebook, Mix'd also imports the upcoming events you're planning to attend. Then, it matches you with people who have the same taste in music and parties—basically the types you'd be looking for anyway—and you swipe left or right for matches.

Noah Brunell, the creator of Mix'd, says he was motivated to create the app from personal experience: "I go to a lot of shows. It's a huge part of my life, and all my friends date girls or guys that are into the same scene," he says. "I thought, there's something here. This might sound close-minded, but I don't think I could date someone who wasn't into the same type of music that I am into. If I can't share those experiences with the person I'm spending all this time with, then it's gonna be a real issue."

Brunell also notes that there are few online spaces where people with the same taste in music can interact on a one-to-one level. "You've got the Facebook event page walls, but those are mostly group interactions."

A key feature of Mix'd is "concert mode," which allows you to search for people within your close vicinity—thereby showing you all the DTF attendees at, say, the next Dirtybird BBQ. Brunell says he added this feature because music events are places where guests are a little more friendly and open to meeting new people, as anyone who's been given an unsolicited back rub by a stranger while waiting in the water line at a festival can attest to. "You have a connection to the people around you, and people are more open to [others] that they're sharing the experience with," Brunell says.

While Mix'd can't compete with apps like Tinder until it recruits a significant number of users, Brunnell plans to introduce the app to more dance music fans at upcoming festivals like Electric Zoo and TomorrowWorld. He's also quick to point out that Mix'd is for all sorts of music fans, not just dance music tribes—it just skews that way right now because of his own network. ("Avicii got me into electronic music," he says without shame.) Eventually, he hopes to make Mix'd more than just a dating app by including features like a music news, ticketing, merchandise, travel, and artists pages. "The ideal scenario is to be a one-stop shop for everything."

An earlier version of this article misstated that Mix'd has a partnership with Echo Nest. We regret the error.

Follow Michelle Lhooq on Twitter