Drops, a music-discovery app launched on Monday, borrows TikTok’s endless vertical-scrolling format, allowing users to swipe through short song clips as they search for their next favorite artist.
The app was launched by Harman, a subsidiary of Samsung, and reportedly aims to make music discovery feel social again.
Drops is available on iOS and Android devices in the U.S. It lets users scroll through 10- to 30-second song snippets accompanied by lyrics, album artwork, artist photos, and captions. The idea is to give listeners just enough of a track to grab their attention, whether through a particularly compelling lyric, a catchy hook, or a beat that makes them want to hear more.
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The company says Drops is designed to bring back the way people once discovered music, before social media algorithms took over. Instead of relying on algorithms, users can rediscover the experience of finding songs through friends, music blogs, and online communities.
“You send a friend a song and say, ‘You have to hear this.’ Then you end up texting, ‘Skip to 1:47, that’s the best part.’ The part that hits usually isn’t the first few seconds, and there wasn’t a good way to share just that moment,” Clare Hunter, general manager of Drops, told TechCrunch.
Hunter explained that the idea for Drops began taking shape after Harman acquired music management software company Roon in 2023.
“I used to spend hours making mixtapes for my friends, picking the songs, the order, and decorating the cover. Drops is the version of that I always wanted,” Hunter added.
The app includes tabs such as “For You,” “New,” “Showcase,” and “Following,” along with relevant and trending hashtags. Users can like, comment on, repost, share, and save tracks to collections called Droplists. They can also send songs directly to other users, follow profiles, and exchange direct messages.
Through integrations with major streaming services, including Apple Music, Qobuz, and TIDAL, users can listen to full tracks and jump directly from a snippet to the complete song on their connected streaming platform.
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Drops notably says it does not use generative AI for its audio or visuals. Songs appear as originally released, with official album artwork and licensed artist photography. The company also says it pays rights holders and reports plays to its partners, which include Universal Music Group, Beggars Group, Empire, Symphonic Distribution, and UnitedMasters.
Plays on Drops also count toward streaming totals on those services. This means the company is not looking to replace existing music subscriptions but rather complement them.
Drops is currently invite-only, with users in the U.S. able to join its waitlist.