Shaun Russell loves music, but he's sick of hearing the same Billboard hits on loop.
To remedy the endless stream of mainstream pop hits, he founded Upbeat. The web application is basically a Reddit for music. Listeners pick a genre to tune in to, upvote the tracks they like and downvote anything that isn't music to their ears.
See also: 8 Ways to Discover Your New Favorite Band Online
Ubpeat launched about six weeks ago. Content is curated exclusively through the community, Russell told Mashable. While other services allow record labels to pay to promote their artists' music, Upbeat relies solely on user feedback.
"There's this need for music discovery services that go beyond what the mainstream music industry is putting in front of you," he said. "We hear the same dozen songs by artists with huge budgets."
Anyone can submit a song. Just upload its SoundCloud URL and tag the appropriate genre. Users then vote for their favorites, and a velocity indicator tracks the top hits based on number of votes and how quickly they come in.
Users can also downvote songs they don't like or ones that are filed in the wrong genre. A direct link to Amazon lets listeners purchase their favorite hits.
"It gives you a real-time look into what's popular at any given moment," Russell said.
The service gives lesser-known artists a chance to top the charts, since musicians are judged on their music — not on their marketing teams or budgets, Russell added.
Of course, users can submit big names and mainstream songs, but their rankings are determined by the same vetting process. A Lorde track made it to the top of the charts for about half a day, Russell noted, followed immediately by more indie acts.
Russell said all genres of music are welcome, although indie pop and electronic tend to be the most popular. So long as a track gets enough votes, it stays on the charts.
Upbeat can be accessed exclusively through a browser, but the website is responsive to both smartphones and tablets. The team is working on iOS and Android apps.
Russell said he also hopes to partner with music services other than SoundCloud in the future to bring more songs to listeners. But throughout the company's growth, the focus will always remain on the users.
"In the long run, the community is our largest asset," he said.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
BONUS: 8 Best iTunes Alternatives
Ecoute for Mac is a free and simple substitute for iTunes. The interface looks like a cleaner counterpart of older versions of iTunes.
Upon installation, Ecoute automatically detects and syncs with your iTunes library. In Ecoute, you can sort by artist, album, composer, genre, playlist and song. Ecoute also has a small widget that stays on your desktop when you're playing a song, which you can use to easily access play controls. Additionally, notifications appear in a corner of your screen when a new song is playing. Ecoute also has a resizable interface; you can choose from a minimized version or a large screen with multiple columns.
You can also connect to your Last.fm, Twitter and Facebook accounts from Ecoute, which also has a mobile version for iOS.
Image: Ecoute
Tomahawk syncs all of your online accounts as well as local collections into one streamlined app. Available for Windows, Mac and a plethora of other operating systems, the free app integrates music from a variety of online sources including Soundcloud, Spotify (premium account needed), Last.fm, Grooveshark as well as your various local machines with an authorized connection.
Once your sources are synced, search for a track through Tomahawk and the app will pull the best version of the song to playback from all of your sources. You can also connect to Google, Twitter and Jabber so you can see your friends' collections. Furthermore, Tomahawk syncs artist info via Last.fm as well as additional info about related artists, charts and new releases. Tomahawk will also save your searches and offers info on your listening history, along with an option for private listening.
Image: Tomahawk
Swinsian is an OS X app has a similar layout to iTunes. After it syncs with your iTunes library, Swinsian's layout includes left and right sidebars. On the left, playlists are displayed just like in iTunes, and on the right, you can easily edit a song's metadata and tags.
Swinsian supports a wide range of formats and has notifications when a new song is playing. You can also connect your Last.fm account and Swinsian auto-detects other AirPlay ports.
Swinsian offers a free 30-day trial and is $19.99 thereafter.
Image: Swinsian
For audiophiles, Fidelia, as the name suggests, prioritizes high-fidelity sound. The player has a cool user interface that mimics that of a high-end radio, and has useful dim and mute buttons as well as metadata displays. The player also shows the current track's waveform and has three separate special effects channels. Some effects function like the iTunes equalizer while others are much more drastic.
Made for listeners who want higher-quality sound than iTunes offers, Fidelia supports multiple formats, including FLAC (which iTunes does not) and incorporates optimal sample rate conversion via iZotope technology.
Fidelia offers a free 15-day trial and is $19.99 thereafter.
Image: Fidelia
Vox is another OS X music player that is good if you want something that won't get in your way. With a streamlined user interface, Vox has a clean design that is also easy-to-use. The player is no bigger than a sidebar, and even this can be minimized to a smaller, more compact player. You can play music from your iTunes library, drag items into the separate Vox playlist or even play from the radio.
Vox supports many formats, including FLAC and OGG, both of which iTunes does not support. You can also connect your Last.fm account to Vox to scrobble your tracks. The icon on the doc shows what album art of the song playing and there are desktop notifications for each new song playing.
A new version of Vox is set to come out in July, but for now the beta version works fine.
Image: Vox
Sonora is an OS X app that allows you to view your iTunes library via album covers with a priority on visual layout.
The main problem is that the app has a hard time importing large libraries. Files and album covers will fail to load and the app will crash. However, the 2.0 version is still in beta mode, so hopefully this bug will be fixed with a later, more stable version.
Regardless, Sonora features a smooth, streamlined layout that lets you browse on the left and displays your queue at the bottom of the player. You can easily move tracks in and out of this flexible queue, and you can search for tracks by simply typing anywhere on the app. Additionally, you can connect to your Last.fm account to scrobble tracks.
Image: Sonora
doubleTwist is another simple media player that plays music, videos and photos. Available for Mac and PC desktops as well as for Android devices, doubleTwist will sync your libraries between your devices via a Wi-Fi connection.
doubleTwist has a layout that is similar to that of iTunes and many of the functions are similar, including playlists and album display.
Image: doubleTwist
Never mind the fact that the plural of "vinyl" is just "vinyl," Vinyls is an OS X app that mimics a vinyl library with your digital iTunes library.
The app sorts by album, artists, playlists or podcasts, all with cover art as priority. You can drag songs into the bottom cue list, and Vinyls can collapse into a mini player as well. You can sync your iTunes library as well as your Last.fm account.
Vinyls has a free 20-day trial, and the app is $14.99 thereafter.
Image: Vinyls