Why We Started a New Music App

Darko Mijatovic
Ckord
Published in
3 min readNov 24, 2023

Human Connection

Nothing can replace human connection. Not social media, not AI, nothing. Our best memories happen when others are around us — the birth of a child, a first kiss, a wedding, traveling to a new destination, a concert. Yet, more and more we’re becoming isolated. Is it a wonder why?

  • Why socialize in person when you have social media?
  • Don’t eat out. Order in.
  • Skip the theatre and stream the movie from the comfort of your home.
  • No need to travel to Europe. Use a VR headset instead.

Some argue that we’re more polarized than ever with the issue only exacerbated by the pandemic. Can we get back to human connection? We believe so.

How

At Ckord, we believe technology should make it easier to achieve human connection. How? By letting technology do the “non-human” things that people don’t want to do instead of having technology try to replace the uniquely human aspects of life. More on this below.

We tend to believe technology is a lot like us. We anthropomorphize technology. We speak to our phones, give names to our smart speakers, build robots to look like us, assign human anatomy to a computer (the CPU is the brain of the computer), and the list goes on. But in reality humans and technology are very different. The things that computers do well people don’t, and vice versa. For instance, a computer is extremely proficient at analyzing large data very quickly and repeating the same task millions of times without any error, something humans are not very good at. On the other side, humans are exceptional at creating art, empathizing, and innovating, something computers are not very good at.

Technology is not like us. On the contrary, technology complements us by doing the things we’re not good at and, quite frankly, don’t want to do. Would you rather analyze thousands of rows of data or have a drink with a good friend?

Starting Ckord

So what does this all have to do with a new music app? A lot of technology today aims to keep you engaged with your device and isolated. We wanted to build something that helps users discover uniquely human experiences, not through a device, but in person with others. We also (as most people do) have a passion for music, but had difficulty finding local artists and live music in our area. Sure we can easily find where Taylor Swift and other major artists are performing, but we felt local musicians were just as good. They just haven’t been discovered yet. So with a passion for music, a purpose to help local artists get discovered, and a motivation to increase human connectedness, Ckord was started in April of 2023.

At Ckord, we want to make it easy to discover new artists and music in your area so that you can go and see live shows that will leave lasting memories. In fact, according to research done by the United Talent Agency (UTA), 57% of people surveyed say concerts and music festivals are among their favorite memories. We believe in live experiences and artists so much, that our success is tied to it. The only way Ckord prospers is if users find enjoyable experiences and if artists achieve success.

The Future

Currently the app is available everywhere, but most of the artists and events are in the NYC area because NYC is where we started and where we began our outreach. We will be branching out to other cities before the end of the year and plan to release new features on a monthly basis. We have also partnered with several artists and venues and will be releasing new content over the coming months. If you’re an artist or a venue that has live music, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’re always looking for new partnerships.

We hope that you’ll join the Ckord community and find incredible music in your area.

P.S. most people pronounce it ‘Cee-kord’ but its actually pronounced Chord. We tried to register Chord but it was taken and would’ve been $12k+ to get it so we changed one letter 😬.

Check out Ckord on the AppStore or ckord.com and find incredible music near you. Follow Ckord at https://www.instagram.com/ckordapp/ and https://www.tiktok.com/@ckord.app

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Darko Mijatovic
Ckord
Editor for

Father to two boys, husband to a loving wife, and CEO and Founder of Ckord (ckord.com)