Scene
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.
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. “Music has always been about community. We make mixtapes. We go to shows together. We bond over shared taste,” Jacobs wrote in a statement on Substack, announcing the app’s launch.
“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.” said Jacobs about the creation of Corus on Substack. Inspired by the all-consuming presence of the algorithm, in an attempt to escape it all, he created a platform from people, for people.
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. Its goal is human connection through shared interests, without it being interrupted by advertisement, the algorithm or AI.
