Songza 3.0 for iOS improves performance, discovery and sound quality

There’s something to be said about hearing the right song in the right moment. It’s one thing to search for an artist and feel good about the choice, but it’s another thing entirely to hear a selection of songs that fits so well within the context of your life — whether you’re driving, cooking or just sitting at a desk — that it improves your whole disposition.

Songza has been making people feel good with its music concierge service since March 2012, and has drummed up some 4.7 million monthly users as of April. With the launch of its new iOS app, Songza 3.0 is a leaner, more focused music service, emphasizing quick discovery, great sound quality and a clean user experience.

“We have a good sense of how people use Songza,” says co-founder Elias Roman during a call to promote the new release. He says that Songza has been integrated as an indelible part of many peoples’ lives and uses the metaphor of vitamins to get the point across. “People know that vitamins are good for them, but don’t know which ones to take, so they don’t take them.”

The same thing happens with Songza: people don’t always know what to listen to, so they don’t listen to anything.”Songza knows what music you want to listen to,” he continues. “Our product is to make what you’re doing right now better. Music isn’t the product, it’s a means to an end.”

The new version redesigns the concierge — that first screen you see when opening the app — with a cleaner look and less features. The New York-based team looked into how thousands of people were using the app and removed aspects that were not being utilized. One of the biggest changes to the way Songza works is how easy it is to quickly begin listening. You can shake the phone to bring up a search box and enter the term you’re looking for, whether it’s “running” or “cooking” or “chilling.”

You can also look up specific artists, which will bring up a list of playlists in which that band or person is included. The first song will always be from that artist, ensuring the double whammy of instant gratification and long-term listening.

Songza has transitioned from an almost entirely web-based experience a year ago to a user base nearly three-quarters mobile. While Roman wouldn’t give me the breakdown of specific platforms, when I spoke to him last year he said it was pretty evenly split between iOS and Android.

Other features in Songza 3.0 include support for more than 200 headphones with HD Audio, a headphone-specific equalizer that Songza integrated last year.

Download Songza for iOS.