What would Instagram be like with a soundtrack? This is the question that the new social network Tunepics hopes to answer. With the help of the newly released iOS app, users can match a song to every image they share, with tracks pulled from the Apple store archive of over 35 million songs. Of course, you'll only get a 30 second preview of the song in question, but it should be enough to catalyse the requisite emotion, and users even have the option to buy the songs featured, with Tunepics earning affiliate revenue from every sale.
With the newly released Tunepics iOS app, users can match a song to every image they share
The app (which went live yesterday) was created by innovate7 founder Justin Cooke, and was built from the ground up by the London-based interactive agency AKQA. Cooke envisions Tunepics as a “Magical and cinematic celebration of people's lives that touches all of our sense,” and hopes that it will allow everyone to quickly and easily create a “Soundtrack to their life,” and share it with their friends. To promote the launch of the app, numerous celebrities and major brands have signed up to use the app and share their own Tunepics with their fans and followers. Jamie Oliver, Kate Bosworth and will.i.am have all signed up to the service, as have the brands Airbnb, AllSaints, Asos and Dazed.
Justin Cooke
The emotional connection Cooke hopes to make with the app is underlined by the 'emotion wheel' system at the heart of it. Whereas with other apps, users might 'tweet' or 'like' posts, here they attach an emotion to each Tunepic, choosing a colour that reflects the emotional impact of what is being seen, felt and heard. There are 16 colours to choose from, each relating to a specific emotion. As with Instagram, you can also add a variety of filters to your photos, including weather effects like snow, rain, sunshine and even rainbows. Tunepics can also be 're-tuned' to appear on users Facebook and/or Twitter feeds, expanding the reach of the app exponentially.
Cooke, who abandoned a cushy CMO job at Top Shop to start innovate7, believes that the app will “Define a generation.”
Cooke, who abandoned a cushy CMO job at Top Shop to start innovate7, believes that the app will “Define a generation,” and has insisted that he won't be selling on his user's data, and that he has no plans to introduce advertising (at least initially) as he doesn't want to clutter the interface. He says he chose to built the app through apple because they “Make the most beautiful devices and they make things look stunning,” and for him it's all about “Beautiful, intuitive design.” Cooke believes his creation to be a “Triumph of British design,” and has intimated that there are many more exciting ideas on the horizon for the service, as he says; “We think there are some really beautiful things to come, this is just the start.”
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and musician from Kidderminster in the UK. If he had an emotion wheel, it would probably remain a dusky blue, occasionally peeking into mauve.
