In an era where streaming services dictate music discovery through complex recommendation algorithms, DJ/producer Marcus Aterman and web designer Andrew Nowacki built a refreshing alternative named Lazyrecords.
The pair met in Montreal years ago, and both studied at Concordia University, with Aterman pursuing a BFA in electroacoustic studies and Nowacki a BA in communication studies. This past Jan. 5, they released their new creative tool, a web-based platform providing users with a randomized, genre-based approach to finding new music.
The project, originally conceived in 2017 by Aterman, took shape over the years with contributions from a close-knit community of music enthusiasts, which Nowacki joined officially about a year ago.
A fresh approach to music discovery
Lazyrecords pulls releases from Discogs, a global music database and marketplace for cataloging, buying, and selling physical music releases, allowing users to filter their searches by genre without relying on user data or popularity metrics.
“The app randomly retrieves a release from our database,” explained Aterman. “Users can apply genre-specific filters from within the app UI [user interface] and will, in turn, get a completely random release that matches one or more of the active filters.”
Unlike traditional streaming platforms that curate playlists based on listening history, Lazyrecords ensures a truly randomized experience.
“We’ve built it such that it will return an arbitrary release that matches what genres the user would like to listen to,” said Aterman.
To keep its vast database of nearly eight million releases up to date, Lazyrecords integrates data from Discogs.
“Luckily, Discogs makes some of their database freely available for anyone to download, and this is updated on a monthly basis,” said Aterman. “We have a program that retrieves and formats these in a manner that makes it easy for our database to ingest.”
One of the standout features of Lazyrecords is its “Global Feed,” where users can browse and share noteworthy tracks they’ve discovered, enriching the community experience.
“This was one of those features that we weren’t sure would work,” Nowacki admitted, “but honestly, we’ve been super pleased with the quality of the reposts so far.”
A tool for DJs and music enthusiasts
Lazyrecords serves as a one-stop valuable location and resource for DJs and music lovers looking for unexpected gems. Whether users want to explore deep cuts or simply let autoplay function like a radio, the platform encourages curiosity and spontaneity.
The team envisions Lazyrecords as a lasting and self-sustaining project, ensuring free and open access to its core features. The project is “not backed by investors or driven by external pressures,” according to its Support Us page.
“Lazyrecords is a passion project and is our way of giving back to the music community that has offered us so much in terms of personal and creative growth,” Nowacki emphasized.
Future plans and community involvement
Long-term goals include maintaining accessibility while offering a supporter tier to help cover operational costs and adding additional filtering options such as decade and mood-based selections.
The duo also strives to uphold a similar commitment to the community-building, human-first software principles and transparency of Are.na, an online place to “save content, create collections over time and connect ideas,” reads their About page.
“We feel as though platforms like Are.na are the last bastions of the ‘old internet’ that many of us grew up on (and which many people have come to crave),” said Nowacki.
By staying true to its mission of human-centred music discovery, Lazyrecords is assured to carve out a necessary and unique space in the digital music landscape.