# Judge Tunes

> A group-based music recommendation platform where friends can create communities, share songs, and discover music together.

Case study: https://sushandahal.com.np/work/judge-tunes

Author: Sushan Dahal

Role: Solo Developer

Status: Prototype

Technologies: Next.js, JavaScript, React, Clerk, MongoDB, Mongoose, Tailwind CSS, Vercel

## Problem

Sharing music with friends often means sending individual links through messaging apps, where recommendations become difficult to revisit. Judge Tunes was created to give groups a dedicated space to collect and share songs, particularly for shared experiences like road trips.

## Contribution

Independently conceptualized, designed, developed, and deployed Judge Tunes as one of my earliest web development projects. Implemented the core group-based recommendation experience, integrated Clerk for authentication, and used MongoDB for application data.

## Approach

- Built the application using Next.js and JavaScript.
- Integrated Clerk to handle user authentication.
- Used MongoDB and Mongoose for data persistence.
- Developed group creation and joining functionality.
- Implemented song-link sharing within groups.
- Designed the interface using Tailwind CSS.
- Deployed the prototype on Vercel.

## Decision

Chose to focus on music recommendations within private communities rather than developing a full music streaming platform. Used Clerk for authentication to concentrate development effort on the application's core features.

## Tradeoff

Kept the project intentionally lightweight, prioritizing group creation and song sharing over advanced functionality such as streaming, recommendation algorithms, and music service integrations.

## Outcome

Built and deployed a functional early-stage prototype that demonstrates group-based music sharing. The project represents an early milestone in my journey from experimenting with web technologies to developing complete applications.

## Lessons

Gained foundational experience in full-stack development, authentication, database integration, and deployment. More importantly, learned how to turn a simple idea into a usable product by prioritizing essential features and keeping the initial scope manageable.

Interface illustrations on the case-study page explain the concept; they are not project screenshots.

Source: https://github.com/Sushan2589/JudgeTunes

Demo: https://judge-tunes.vercel.app/