Musx is a handy music sharing app for iPhone
Musx (free) is an interesting music sharing/discovery app for iPhone with a heavy emphasis on social. In a way, it feels like Instagram for music. You find a track you like, add a blurb and share it with other users (or Facebook and Twitter). Others can then comment on it, "like" it or re-share to their followers. The more followers you have, the more Musx becomes a community of music lovers. Here's my look at Musx.
Right off the bat I've got to mention that Musx pulls music from YouTube. Last month we pointed out several music apps that use YouTube as a source, as well as the pitfalls of each. Musx does a great job of finding what you're looking for (the predictive search is speedy and works well), but you also get the odd stuff. For example, I searched for Van Halen (surprise!) and found classic albums and live performances, but also interviews of the band and a documentary. I guess you could look at that as a bonus -- the music plus this other stuff -- but I just wanted to hear music.
Let's get back to the app.
When you first launch Musx, you see the timeline. Scroll through it just as you would in Instagram, for example. Each "post" contains a song, the artist and album information, any comments left by the original poster and buttons to "like," comment, re-share (within the app) or share elsewhere (text, mail, Twitter of Facebook). There's also a button to jump right to YouTube. It looks good and within a minute you've figured out what's going on.
The search icon is in the upper right and the Home button is on the left. Give it a tap to reveal a slide-down sheet with buttons for the queue, playlists, notifications and your profile. The queue is pretty nice. As you browse what your friends have shared, tap the "+" on any post to add it to your queue. Once you're done, jump to the queue via the home button and play the songs you've added in order. When you're done, hit "clear" and start over.
Playlists are great too, and more permanent. There are two default playlists: "Recent Favorites," which features songs you've marked as favorites, and "Shared by Friends," which is a running list of titles shared by those you follow.
To make a custom playlist, just hit "New Playlist," give it a title and you're off. Whenever you find a song, just add it to the appropriate list. I made one for my workday which I'm enjoying. A playlist can be played in order or in shuffle mode.
Finally, Notifications lists activity on your account, like new followers.
At the end of the day, it's a nice little app. I do worry about music I've fav'd being pulled from YouTube, but I haven't had it long enough to be able to watch for that. The app itself looks very nice and does just what it says on the tin. Musx's emphasis on social is something that Pandora, Rdio and Beats Music can't match. That's its real strength. In the short time I've used it, I've already discovered a new band whose music I'm enjoying.
Check out Musx and get social with your tunes. It's a fun and effective little app.
