Dating apps are starting to feel pretty run of the mill. They can feel impersonal and overwhelming, and it's hard to feel like you'll meet your perfect match when your flipping through 20 people in three minutes. Enter: Vinylly, a brand new online dating experience that's using AI to match users based on their music taste.
"Vinylly takes into account a user’s streaming music data plus their music habits to find matches," CEO Rachel Van Nortwick says on Vinylly's site. "Beyond just a superficial swipe, Vinylly has the ability to match people on a deep level through something powerful that they share. And, when a user streams more music, the algorithm responds and Vinylly produces new matches."
We talked to Van Nortwick about turning such a creative vision into a reality, and why this isn't your average dating app — it's better.
B+C: Why did you choose to focus on music as the basis for this dating app?
RVN: In the words of Bad Bunny, "When you do things with love and passion, everything is easier.” When I was about five or six years old, I started listening to my parents’ records which introduced me to a variety of genres including folk, rock, jazz and more.
Once I started buying my own music, I became interested in the various influences tying different genres, songs and artists to each other. When I went to my first concert at 15, it was palpable being in the audience, feeling the connectedness of the experience and how happy everyone was sharing in it.
Fast forward to 2016, after watching my family and friends struggle on other dating apps and knowing that music compatibility was an important criteria for them and many of us, I decided to create Vinylly. We launched in 2019 and have focused on creating a differentiated product and a positive user experience.
B+C: I'm obsessed with the idea of matching up someone's music taste with a cocktail. What are some of the qualifications for that "perfect cocktail"? How is it personalized?
RVN: Just like music is subjective, so is creating the perfect cocktail! So, we focused on creating pairings, where we let users have complete bartending control, when they get to pick any two genres to mix together. These genre choices mirror the ones they are selecting as favorites on their profile.
When a user chooses the two genres, it could be that these are their top two favorite genres or maybe this is their favorite genre and their potential match’s favorite genre. The cocktails we created with AI aim to capture the fusion of these two genres.
B+C: A dating app is already a tech-forward version of dating. What made you decide to incorporate AI as well?
RVN: We have always aimed to have a user experience that felt genuine and fun. Sharing a drink with someone on a first date is pretty typical, but sharing a drink in an app, and having it center around music, seemed to be the perfect opportunity for Vinylly to pioneer.
We are building more with AI, where we will use it to leverage the trend data we have in our app, to give users the best chance of finding their +1.
B+C: Can you share any popular recipes?
RVN: Yes! The “Neon Banger” which is mixing EDM and Hip-Hop.
Ingredients:
- 1 oz vodka
- 1 oz white rum
- 1 oz silver tequila
- 1 oz gin
- 1 oz triple sec
- 1 oz Blue Curacao
- 2 oz sweet and sour mix
- 1 oz grenadine
- 1 oz simple syrup
- 0.5 oz lime juice
- 2 oz lemon-lime soda
- Optional: Cotton candy for garnish
Instructions:
- Fill a shaker with ice.
- Pour in vodka, white rum, silver tequila, gin, triple sec, Blue Curacao, sweet and sour mix, grenadine, simple syrup, and lime juice.
- Shake well to combine all ingredients.
- Fill a glass with ice and pour the mixture over the ice.
- Top with lemon-lime soda for extra fizz.
- For a fun touch, garnish with a colorful piece of cotton candy.
Do you have any funny dating app stories? Let us know on Instagram!
Lead image via cottonbro studio/Pexels
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