Support Today
Our service is listener-supported. Read about this campaign.
Your contributions:
- Keep Hype Machine running
- Help us build things
- Remove all ads
- More supporter features
-
Night Mode
Supporter-only group playlist
Full Stack archives
Time Machine (popular charts since '07)
Spy (see loved tracks in real time)
Deeper search options - $6+ comes with stickers
- Keep Hype Machine running
- Help us build things
- Remove all ads for a year
- More supporter features for a year
-
Night Mode
Supporter-only group playlist
Full Stack archives
Time Machine (popular charts since '07)
Spy (see loved tracks in real time)
Deeper search options - $70+ comes with stickers
1 Supporter
Current goal: 3000 monthly supporters will allow us to continue running Hype Machine.
Initial goal complete! 1000 monthly supporters won't cover our expenses, but it's the first step towards Hype Machine becoming a sustainable service.
Do your friends use Hype Machine? Tell them about this campaign.
Hypem has been such a blessing to my musical life. I’ve discovered so much and shared so much with others because of the site. The subscription is well worth the value I’ve received over the last 7 years. I sincerely hope it never ends.
adampriest
I always call it "la macchina dell'hype" in italian when I talk about it. I imagine it like a big sci-fi machine that reads minds all over the universe and create wonderful sounds that humans don't know yet.
nallyna
It changed my way to discover new music when I was starting to think it was impossible. I feel like I'm in the 90s again and it's a nice and warm feeling.
My story about Hype Machine starts in Vancouver, BC, Canada I think. I was there for a year studying and a guy I met there introduced me and I used it daily. When I got back to Sweden I forgot it for a while, listened to it for a while, and then forgot it again. It's been like that ever since and I kinda love it. Every time I get back to Hype Machine I'm never disappointed and I always find a new artist, or a song, or a remix I love.
jwanglof
My favourite thing about hype machine is that is connected me to new artists. Without it would never have found Imagine Dragons - "All Eyes". This was the beginning of an abstract journey of music, concerts and meeting the band.
justkarl
started using hype machine in 2012 and it's been my favorite music app ever since. I've discovered countless new bands and recently, my favorite one to date- Cigarettes after sex. The first time I heard Affection on hmachine I was blown away. If it wasn't for this amazing app, I wouldn't know all my favorite bands.
bulgaria99
Fund Hype Machine
Hype Machine has been introducing people to new music since 2005. Let’s keep it going.
Photo: Victoria Masters
We are a team of three—an independent company without investors. Most of our revenue comes from ads on the desktop site, but due to changes in online advertising, this is no longer enough to support the service. Read more
Join 2206 supporters.Fund Hype Machine →
How did we get here?
Hype Machine was built in a college dorm room in 2005, and over the years has grown into a dedicated community of music fans. We are a team of three—an independent company without investors. Most of our revenue comes from ads on the desktop site, but due to changes in online advertising, this is no longer enough to support the service.
We’ve been amplifying the work of emerging musicians, writers, and communities for the last 15 years. Remaining independent has allowed us to make the kind of product we want to use ourselves: focused, playful, and in line with our ideas about what’s ethical. (We don’t collect or sell user data or emails, for example.)
What does Hype Machine do?
Hype Machine tracks music that people are talking about. We index hundreds of publications, handpicked as trusted voices in the global conversation about music. Our thinking is that if one of them liked something enough to write about it, it’s worth a listen.
Every track indexed ends up on the Latest page, whether it’s published by a site with 20,000 followers or 20. Listen and you might stumble into your new favorite song, a style of music you hadn't heard before, or an artist that was way off your radar.
Music is more accessible now than ever before thanks to streaming services. That’s great! We use them too. What makes Hype Machine unique is how we approach discovery—finding new and unfamiliar sounds through the lens of the writers in our index. Because sometimes, the most exciting stuff is just outside our listening habits.
How did it start?
In 2005, music discussion was dominated by a handful of large print magazines. Blogs emerged to cover a broader range of music beyond the top commercial releases of the day, spreading the conversation across thousands of sites.
Hype Machine brought all these posts together in one place for easy streaming. Built as a personal project, it quickly caught on with curious listeners. The following year, Anthony bought the hypem.com domain, moved Hype Machine from the server it shared with his collection of Godspeed You! Black Emperor concert photos, and increased capacity for our growing audience.
We're grateful that Hype Machine has been able to reach so many people over the years. It may seem like a large company from the outside, but it's just the three of us sitting around a kitchen table, answering emails and writing code.
Why are we raising money?
As music experiences on the internet have become more centralized, powered by a handful of large services, they’ve also become more alike. Today, a listener’s choice is between minor interface and catalog differences—a narrow way of interacting with a key part of contemporary culture. We think that people deserve a multitude of ways of experiencing music, and we’d like to build more of them with your support and feedback.
Crowdfunding is our sole option—online advertising only works well at immense scale (while introducing complex privacy issues), and venture capital prioritizes returns over sustainability.
Your monthly contribution will allow us to keep Hype Machine running, but most importantly, continue creating ways to explore new music. We’ve been thinking about these ideas for many years, and we’re ready to try more of them out with you.
Let's build it together.
—Dave, Zoya, and Anthony