This reminds me a little of Turntable.fm (RIP) and Rockbot which I've used a couple times at Lucky Strike in SF.

Do you have to use Bluetooth? Could it be an invite code that a host can email/text?

@ottosipe to make sure I have this right: you need a "host" phone hooked up to speakers (assuming AirPlay works too?), that's logged into FB and Spotify Premium, then other nearby people with the Jam app can submit/vote for songs, and it automatically organizes? Does the host have the ability to curate or override the selections?

Yes definitely! Seems very cool—tough part is convincing guests to download the app (as opposed to going to a mobile site) for voting. But I can definitely see cases where this is really fun.

Hey this is Otto from Jam! Jam is a music app that uses Bluetooth to find others nearby. Once you're near a Jam you can contribute to the playlist by voting for or adding new music. Right now music comes from Spotify, but we'll be adding more sources by the end of the month! No more switching between YouTube music videos at parties! Feedback is most welcome!

Yep. Sadly, Turntable did a really poor job on mobile and you can only host on Rockbot if you're a business and it's pricy. Jam is free if you have Spotify :)

Yes. This host phone has play/pause ability and can airplay or hook up to speakers. The host can swipe to delete and skip songs. They can also ban users who are being pesky. If the host is logged in on multiple devices the others will become remote controls in a way. They can still skip and pause but playback will happen on the original device. Helpful?

Thanks Adam. You're right - users don't like to download apps. Since use bluetooth to find guests nearby - and ensure that they're really nearby/listening. We can't do that with mobile web, sadly.

@adamsigel The reason we use bluetooth is because its signal range roughly mirrors the range of amplified audio and we can easily assure that people are actually listening to the music they're picking. But you're right - we've considered adding an super-invite capability which ignores location altogether. Or long term goal is to automatically join Jams which are nearby. Imagine: you walk into a coffee shop and start to hear music you like without touching your phone at all. @ffumarola I've been to two PennApps but not the one where a team was working on something like this. No doubt we're not the first to touch this space.

@ottosipe did you guys work on this at Penn Apps? If not, there was a team working on this idea there!