FEN / FIRST TO EXPLORE NEW
Fuck
Algorithms.Find artists
by place.
Select a town. Open its artist list.
Listen, set your genre preferences, and save artists.
Join the waiting list ↗Get an email when early access is available.
artists I found
Monthly listeners when found.
Self Hustle
Rhinorino
33monthly listenersHeavy Whipped Cream
57monthly listenersVALENTINO.
69monthly listenersHOW IT WORKSStop following Spotify.
Stop following Spotify.
Start exploring yourself.
01 / MAP
Travel on the map.
Move around the map, zoom in, and select a place to open its popup.
02 / ARTIST OVERVIEW
Scroll artists. Press play.
Scroll through a place’s artists and play music inside an artist card. Desktop also has a List / Swipe switch.
03 / GENRE PREFERENCES
Exclude genres you don’t like.
Uncheck genres and save your preferences. Matching artists appear first; Radio and TV skip unchecked genres.
04 / SAVED ARTISTS
Save artists to your lists.
Open the heart button, then choose All saved artists, an existing list, or Create a list.
05 / FRIENDS
See what your friends are up to.
See artists your friends saved and places they visited, when they share their activity.
06 / RADIO / TV
Listen to Radio. Watch TV.
Open Radio/TV. Choose Listen for Spotify or Watch for music videos. Your genre preferences apply to both.
RANKED BY LISTENERS
Community Upvoting
Each account can vote once per artist: +1 or −1. An artist’s score is the total number of upvotes minus downvotes.
The Community list sorts artists by score, highest first. If scores are equal, the artist with more upvotes ranks higher.
WHY WE MADE FENFor real
For real
music fans.
FEN started with a frustration: our music discovery felt limited to what Spotify’s algorithm put in front of us. Finding local artists was difficult. We wanted to explore music by place and choose for ourselves.
A fen is a wetland: ground full of life beneath the surface. For us, it’s a metaphor for underground music scenes that are still waiting to be discovered. FEN stands for First to Explore New.
EARLY ACCESSJoin the
Join the
waiting list.
Leave your email to request early access.
We’ll contact you when a place is available.
App information.
Where can I explore?
You can explore places worldwide. FEN currently works best in the Netherlands, where coverage is strongest. Artist information varies by place; an empty result may mean information is missing.
How do genre preferences work?
Uncheck genres you don’t want to hear and save your preferences. Matching artists appear first in places. Other artists remain under “More artists”. Radio and TV skip unchecked genres. Subgenres are included automatically, and you can choose whether to include artists without genre tags.
How do Radio and TV work?
Open Radio/TV and choose Listen for Spotify or Watch for music videos. Playback and preview length depend on the music service and your browser. You can open an artist directly in Spotify.
What does an artist’s place mean?
A place can be an artist’s birthplace, a band’s formation place, or a documented base. It is not a live location.
Can I use FEN on my phone?
FEN works in your browser and can be added to your home screen. Desktop has List and Swipe artist views; phones use artist cards.