Tech

New "ad and algorithm-free" social music app Corus has launched

The app will focus on peer-to-peer music recommendations of music and film

A new  "ad and algorithm-free" music discovery and social media platform, Corus, has launched.

Launched in May, the app comes from Gabe Jacobs, the co-creator of Cymbal, a music discovery app that was dubbed the "Instagram for music" until it closed down in 2018. 

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Corus features a similar "Instagram-inspired" interface, with a sliding feed and grid-like profile for users. However, Jacobs has insisted that the app features no algorithm or AI-generated content, and no advertising.

There will be an optional $2.99-a-month subscription for Corus, which gives users the opportunity to use "customisation options" on their profiles and support the platform.

"Music has always been about community. We make mixtapes. We go to shows together. We bond over shared taste," Jacobs wrote in a statement announcing the app's launch. 

"Somehow though, the internet and big-tech turned music discovery into a solo experience, where an algorithm just feeds you more of what you already like," he continues. "Social media is packed with ads. AI slop is filling up every corner of the internet."

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"We've been pushed to present versions of ourselves that don't really reflect who we are. The original promise of the internet was to bring us closer together, and I used to believe in it. Money and bad incentives got in the way. With Corus, I'd like to push back in the other direction."

For more information and to find out how to download Corus, click here

Megan Townsend is Mixmag's Deputy Editor, get in touch with her here.

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