Bookshlf, a startup out of New York that lets users share and curate their media preferences, launched its free iOS app on Tuesday.
Co-founder Mike Abend likens Bookshlf to the proudly-displayed DVD and CD collections of yesteryear, a visible representation of one’s tastes and personality. Now users can turn to this app to create specific, customized “shelves” for everything from music and podcasts to news articles and books and share it all with friends. Users can simply browse and save content for themselves or actively curate and share the media they come across.
Sharing content isn’t new, you can spend hours on sites like Facebook and Twitter, scrolling through songs, videos and articles your friends find interesting. But Abend says these more traditional platforms aren’t built for proper curation.
“We’re not properly valuing great content, relegating the things we love to a fleeting feed that immediately disappears into the social ether,” Abend said in a blog post. “With more access to more content than ever before, consumers are tired of seeing the same headline 10 times, sifting through a feed of the ‘loudest voice’ or trying to find value in the realities people choose to share online.”
Andrew Boggs, Bookshlf’s president and co-founder, suggested to TechCrunch that, while the company is not interested in monetizing just yet, there are several money-making future opportunities for the site, including targeted advertising, sponsored shelves and selling data about broader audience trends.
TechCrunch also reported that Bookshlf brought David A. Steinberg, the co-founder and CEO of marketing company Zeta Global, on as an investor and advisor.
