BASE
A music discovery app connecting audiences with local artists, while helping grassroots venues and underground acts fill more rooms.
BASE uses Spotify listening habits to discover local artists, combining location-based music discovery with a simple swipe experience built around spontaneous nights out.
The challenge
BASE was created around a simple idea: discovering live music should feel spontaneous, rather than requiring hours of research. Users connect their Spotify account, allowing BASE to surface local artists performing nearby. A dark, moody blue interface creates an atmospheric backdrop, with subtle glows adding depth without compromising usability. The experience offers two discovery routes: an interactive map for anonymous music discovery and a swipe-based interface for quickly exploring local acts.
BASE was designed to tackle a problem on both sides of the live music ecosystem. For audiences, it removes the friction from finding something new to see, using existing listening habits to make recommendations feel relevant and personal.
The anonymous map concept deliberately removes the usual context surrounding an artist. Rather than seeing a name, genre, popularity or venue and making a decision based on familiarity, users hear a short clip first. If they like what they hear, they simply head to the gig. This encourages more spontaneous decisions and gives lesser-known artists a better chance of being discovered on merit.
The swipe experience offers a faster, more familiar way to browse upcoming local acts, making it easy to build a shortlist of potential gigs.
For artists and grassroots venues, the aim was to create another route to audiences beyond established names and traditional event promotion. By connecting people with artists they are already likely to enjoy, BASE could help increase attendance at smaller shows while encouraging audiences to explore beyond their usual music choices.
From a design perspective, the interface was intentionally clean and uncomplicated. The darker blue palette and restrained use of glow created an atmospheric feel suited to music, while keeping navigation and discovery straightforward enough to use quickly on the move.
Let’s make the next move together.
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