Compare Music Collections with Venntunes

Venntunes makes comparing music from one iOS device to another as easy as bumping phones.

When using Venntunes, users can learn which artists are on a friend's device as well as those that get the most play. Then by tapping the iTunes link view what songs are available from that particular artist on Apple's music service. The route is somewhat circuitous, as first Safari opens and then redirects to iTunes (this is likely an iOS issue that needs further enhancement for developers). Just about all the major artists had an available link, although there were a few that were not available.

After going through the comparison process, information about your shared musical tastes (or lack thereof) can be then shared to social networks via Twitter or Facebook. 

Venntunes works with any iPhone, iPod touch or iPad; however, the app is not optimized for the larger iPad screen. It will only work among devices where every user has installed their own version of the $0.99 app.

Venntunes is quite easy to use, as it is only two steps to get it going and then swapping music information. It was relatively stable, with one crash during testing. There is no account registration necessary -- just fire it up and start comparing music with others.

It could be even more useful, however, by providing further detailed information about the music collections. For example, names of specific songs as well as playlists could be a good entryway into musical exploration. Some graphs that represent favorite genres or play frequency would likely draw a lot of interest. Deeper integration with the web would allow for further Venntunes to offer further comparison with additional playlists and give users the flexibility to purchase music from other  services, like Amazon's MP3 Store.

Venntunes is a good first start in providing a real solution for those who want to compare musical tastes and collections. With additional enhancement it could be a real go-to option to examine and discuss one another's musical tastes among friends, acquaintances or even people you "bump" into on the subway.