Music has been my soundtrack for as long as I can remember; product, data and AI are my job. Here is how I see the music industry through that lens: the problems I face as a listener, the tools I use, where data and AI make the difference, and the music app I would build.
I am a listener before I am a product manager. These two frustrations are why I test so many apps, and what the rest of this page tries to answer.
Every Friday brings dozens of new releases, from the artists I follow and far beyond. It is hard to keep track of them, harder still to take the time to listen to a full album, and new artists get lost in the flow.
How I cope today A release radar, a listen-later shelf and human radio. See my toolbox
Music apps learn my taste from my library and listening history. But it is full of noise: artists I no longer listen to, one-off tracks, the kids' songs. And AI-generated tracks now slip into my recommendations, with no label and no way to filter them out. The suggestions follow the noise, not my taste.
What I would fix A clean, user-owned listening profile that every app can trust, and a clear label and filter for AI-generated music. Music × data
Grouped by what I use them for, with one line on each. ★ marks my favourites.
AppWebsiteRadioRecord shopPress & newsletter
The release radar I open every Friday: every new album from the artists I follow, in one clean feed.Avis à valider+Clean chronological release feed; follows labelsà valider−Apple devices only; labels in Premium
Simple release alerts by email; does the job, less polished than MusicHarbor.Avis à valider+Web, works with any streaming serviceà valider−Basic interface; free up to 30 artists
My listen-later shelf: save an album now, really listen to it at the weekend.Avis à valider+Saves albums from any app to listen laterà valider−Apple only; free up to 5 items
Eclectic, no chatter, no ads: the station that makes me discover something every hour.Avis à valider
Shows hosted by people who dig, chosen by hand.Avis à valider
Presenters who love what they play; the best of new British and independent music.Avis à valider
Independent, listener-supported radio from Seattle, and its live sessions on YouTube: the best showcase for new artists.Avis à valider
Rate and review an album in seconds; the cleanest way to remember what I thought of it.Avis à valider+Rate and review in secondsà valider−Young app, small community
A music diary that says why an album matters to you.Avis à valider+Context on each albumà valider−Few users, no mobile app yet
Built around artists and their fans: promising for fan clubs, still early.Avis à valider+Direct link between artists and fansà valider−Few artists on board yet
Rate and share with friends; social first, lighter on depth.Avis à valider+Sharing with friendsà valider−iPhone only, light on depth
Follows my artists and tells me when they play near me: still the reference for concert alerts.Avis à valider+Reliable alerts from my libraryà valider−Little social; tickets sold elsewhere
French concert app with a social layer: see who's going and go together.Avis à valider+See which friends are goingà valider−France and iPhone only
The wiki of what was played: perfect before and after a gig.Avis à valider+Huge community setlist baseà valider−No official app
My concert diary: every gig I have been to, in one place.Avis à valider+My whole concert history in one placeà valider−Young app, iPhone and web only
Safe resale between fans at fair prices; saved me more than one sold-out show.Avis à valider+Secure fan-to-fan resale, fair pricesà valider−Fees on every sale and purchase
Official French resale; reassuring when the organiser plugs it in.Avis à valider+Official resale backed by organisersà valider−Only partner events, web only
Where I catalogue my collection, check a pressing and find the rare one.Avis à valider+The biggest music database, plus a marketplaceà valider−App slower than the website
Where buying an album actually pays the artist; great for digging independent labels.Avis à valider+Most of the money goes to the artistà valider−Discovery limited beyond what you follow
Listening and discovery sessions where everyone brings a record, a bar, and gigs during Bordeaux Rock.
Very active on Instagram, with new recommendations every week: my weekly digging guide even from afar.
Special releases with War Child (IDLES, PJ Harvey, Portishead on coloured 7"s), quality merch, gigs: a shop that gives back.
Small acoustic gigs, regularly: the best way to discover an artist, a few metres away.Avis à valider
Critic and user scores side by side: my quick check before diving into an album.Avis à valider
Radio France's blog and Friday newsletter: my weekly dose of new music and stories.Avis à valider
Album reviews, interviews and live reports, from emerging scenes to big names: where I find artists before the playlists do.Avis à valider
Streaming catalogues hold more than 100 million tracks. What makes the difference is how well an app understands the music, the listener and the data in between.
The problem. Recommendations follow what similar listeners already play, so the same artists keep coming back and new ones struggle to get heard.
What I would do. Mix signals the algorithm alone does not have: human curation, taste twins, local scenes, labels. And measure diversity as well as engagement: share of new artists in a week, plays from the long tail.
The problem. Most similarity comes from listening behaviour; the sound itself is barely used. A new artist with no listeners yet is invisible.
What I would do. Analyse melody, harmony, key, tempo, structure and texture to suggest tracks that really sound close, and say why ("same chord progression, similar tempo"). It also solves the cold start for new releases.
The problem. My problem 02, at scale: third-party apps import a streaming history to learn a taste, and it is polluted by artists you no longer like, the kids' songs, a sleep playlist, a shared account.
What I would do. Let listeners tag contexts (kids, sleep, party), exclude them, merge duplicates and export a clean taste profile. Every app built on top gets smarter.
The problem. Listening, ratings, concerts and collections live in apps that rarely talk to each other, and APIs can close overnight.
What I would do. Stable, open APIs and shared metadata (credits, releases, concert dates), plus a listening profile I own and can plug into any app. That is how independent apps innovate on top of the big platforms.
Today it takes five or six apps to discover, share, go to gigs and collect. Here is the one I would build, for fans who want more than a play button.
Problem My records and my streaming library don't know each other.
Idea Scan a record to play it anywhere; get an alert when an album I stream on repeat is repressed or sold nearby.
Problem Independent record shops, listening bars and in-store gigs are hard to find when travelling.
Idea A map of the places to dig and to listen properly, with their speciality, events and what's new in the bins.
Problem A concert starts on a ticket app and ends in a camera roll.
Idea A playlist of the likely setlist to warm up, then the real setlist, photos and a rating saved as a memory after the show.
Problem Seeing a favourite artist on tour in another city means juggling a ticket, a train or a flight and a hotel, on five different sites.
Idea Turnkey packages sold with the artist: ticket, low-carbon transport and hotel in one booking, plus fan extras (meet-up, merch, after-show).
More visibility for women and gender-diverse artists, on stage and behind it, in a sector where they are still a small minority of festival line-ups.Ton lien avec l'asso (bénévole, don…) à préciser
The volunteer-run associations that make a local scene happen: I help out at Bordeaux Rock, Astrodome and Relâche (festivals and cultural events).À valider, liens ?
À lister
On Apple Music
What's on repeat right now.
On Spotify
The same playlist, track for track.
Senior Product Manager, Product Owner, 19+ years shipping products, and a listener first. Streaming, discovery, live or collecting: I would love to bring both to a music team.
