With Serendipity, Spotify reveals when two people around the world listen to the same song simultaneously

Spotify has introduced a neat little Web app today called Serendipity, which visualises simultaneous listening around the world.

Interactive artist Kyle McDonald has been serving as Spotify’s Media Artist in Residence for the past couple of months, and the result is this animated map that jumps to life whenever two people (strangers) listen to the same song at the same time.

It’s actually pretty sweet, and isn’t confined to people who live in close proximity either. It often zooms out and reveals that someone in Asia is listening to a song at exactly the same time as someone in South America. To surface on Serendipity, two people must start listening to the same song within a tenth of a second of each other.

Spotify says that its Media Artist in Residence program operates on “an informal basis”, adding that it might do something similar again.

➤ Serendipity