Airbuds is the music social network Apple and Spotify wish they had built

A new social platform is gaining momentum among Gen Z users, and it’s not from the usual tech giants. Based in San Francisco, Airbuds is a mobile app that allows users to showcase their musical tastes and connect with friends in a vibrant social environment. With a unique widget that integrates with various streaming services, users can effortlessly share their current tracks with their friends. On Wednesday, Airbuds announced a successful $5 million funding round led by Seven Seven Six, a venture capital firm co-founded by Reddit’s Alexis Ohanian. The app has achieved remarkable growth, with over 15 million downloads and 5 million active users each month, 1.5 million of whom engage with the app daily. According to Appfigures, it has garnered a 96% positive rating over the last month from more than 9,400 reviews. Airbuds provides a fresh way for users to socialize, express themselves, and discover new music, a trifecta that major players like Apple and Spotify have struggled to master. Apple has made several attempts to embed social features in its music apps, but initiatives like the short-lived Ping and Connect failed to resonate with users. Meanwhile, Spotify has introduced various features aimed at enhancing its social capabilities, such as TikTok-like feeds and collaborative playlists, but hasn’t quite created a full-fledged social network. The founders of Airbuds, Gilles Poupardin and Gawen Arab, have leveraged their prior experiences to refine their vision. Poupardin, who has developed consumer products since his college days, previously created a music bookmarking tool and a social audio app called Cappuccino. Arab also contributed to the smart speaker project and worked with Zenly, a social app that was acquired by Snap. The inspiration for Airbuds came from Poupardin's realization that creating playlists can be cumbersome. By utilizing iOS widgets, he aimed to simplify the process of sharing music with friends. "It’s effortless. You just connect your Spotify account, and your activity is shared in real-time on Airbuds," he explained during an interview with TechCrunch. Currently, Airbuds is compatible with Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud, Musi, Deezer, Amazon Music, and Audiomack. In addition to its core widget feature, the app offers various social functions. Users can react to friends’ music selections with emojis, stickers, or selfies, and chat through a built-in messaging feature. A “ghost mode” allows users to listen privately without sharing their activity. The app also highlights friends with similar music preferences and provides a personalized Weekly Recap of listening habits, reminiscent of Spotify’s year-end review. Airbuds is exploring new avenues, such as enabling users to connect with their schools to see popular artists among peers. Users can customize their profiles extensively, adding favorite artists, songs, and images, or opting for an automated design by the app. Poupardin notes that this emphasis on self-expression is crucial to the app's appeal, with around 30% of users actively engaging with features beyond simply monitoring their friends' streams. However, some growth can be attributed to a feature-gating strategy that encourages users to invite friends for access to additional functionalities. With the new funding secured, Airbuds plans to broaden its app's capabilities, potentially incorporating more streaming services and enhancing artist-to-fan interactions. The team is also testing a subscription model to attract a wider audience. Overall, Airbuds has raised a total of $10 million from notable investors, including a16z and SV Angel, and is available on both iOS and Android.