Bringing together music lovers to share diverse genres, “almost like a human Spotify”
The University of Rhode Island has a large hip-hop scene, but how are the alternative and indie-heads supposed to fit in? Last semester, Music Ü Disperse and Discover (Müdd) was created to link music lovers across campus.
Müdd started last semester by President Madison Holland and they’re still in the works to become a Student Senate recognized club at the university. Alex Turco, URI freshman and textile marketing major, is one of the ten starting members, or “ambassadors.” She explained that the club is like a “real-life Spotify.” Since it’s sometimes hard to find people who have a more unique or different music taste, Müdd formed to connect people who have similar interests in music. Turco said the group comes together, listens to music, makes playlists and suggests artists and songs that are more unique or alternative.
Turco explained that there are people in Müdd who listen to rock or EDM, and they’re all pretty open to listening to as many music genres as they can. Members don’t discriminate certain genres, but instead welcome them.
Turco explained that Müdd’s end goal is to create an environment where members can give each other ideas and inspiration. Müdd also hopes to host events in the future — whether it’s an open mic night or sponsoring URI bands to play events on campus. She said the club would also like to plan trips to concerts in Rhode Island, since sometimes it’s hard to find ways to attend a certain show.
In recent years at the university, there have been multiple rap acts including Iggy Azalea, Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert and Fetty Wap. A lot of students here listen to rap music, and Turco said that for the majority, that works, but for the few that would prefer to hear different music, Müdd would make the trip to another show possible.
So far, Müdd has sparked some interest on campus, since there are currently 95 members in the Facebook group. Turco said that although only about a dozen people regularly go to meetings, the Facebook group is very active. People recommend songs and ask others for suggestions about what to listen to on a daily basis.
“I’m not a musician, I can’t sing, I can’t play anything but I like music,” Turco said. “So having a music group that’s not music performance but is music appreciation is really nice and there’s a lot of people in the same shoes.”
She said that the people who go to the meetings are so passionate about music and it’s inspiring to see people who put so much of their heart and soul into something. As for Turco, she said that she is a very expressive person and likes to dress a certain way or listen to certain playlists or songs based on her mood.
“Having a song or a playlist or having something that expresses how I feel that day is really important to me, and for a lot of people, music is a very important form of expression,” Turco said. “So I think that really honing in what you like to listen to and knowing what sparks interest or sets the tone for the day is really important.”
Turco explained that anyone can join and find someone in the group that likes the same music as them. If you regularly use Spotify, want to find music that’s different than the norm played at parties or just want a playlist to listen to on the way to class, Turco suggests joining.
Müdd meets on Fridays in the Airport Lounge of the Memorial Union at 6 p.m. For updates, information and music suggestions, view their Facebook Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/urimudde/.