Once Labor Day has passed, summer is over—except for faithful Poolside FM users. Even when the leaves change color and snow starts to fall, the music-streaming site tries it darndest to keep memories of cannonball splashes vivid through summer-tinged melodies.
For years, Poolside FM users could only access its 90s aesthetic and curated music playlists on the web, but it’s now expanded to iPhone and Mac apps to keep summer going year round. Android is coming soon.
Poolside FM dates back to 2014 when Founder Marty Bell eschewed the app route in favor of a website to keep costs down. Five years later, the site got a revamp with the help of Designer Niek Dekker and Lead Developer Lewis King.
“I knew there was some kind of magic with Poolside FM that hadn’t been expressed enough with the [version one] website,” Bell says. But Dekker and King “have shown boundless enthusiasm towards the project.”
Leaning Into the 90s-Era Vibes
Version two was a flag in the ground for Poolside FM’s design, which landed on a bold, retro aesthetic. The idea was to riff on the 90s-era Mac operating system, but not copy it exactly.
“The main challenge for me, as a designer, on each platform has been to get the pixel rendering and details just right,” says Dekker. “We’re living in a retina post-pixel era, which causes some challenges when trying to nail that 90s aesthetic.”
The app can also change colors and includes a photo-taking feature called PoolCam. There’s no real reason for a music app to take pictures, but it’s all about fun. From the lo-fi photo filter to the Bill Gates Easter egg, every aspect of the experience is drenched in retro nostalgia.
The reason Poolside FM waited so long to add native apps is simple: money. Bell, along with Dekker, King, and others, all work on Poolside FM for free. It is a passion project in every sense.
Hosting and server costs remain low because the streaming largely relies on SoundCloud and YouTube for music and video content. What money the group has made from limited partnerships over the years—see the latest with drink maker Recess—is mostly put toward keeping the service online. For those especially enthusiastic about Poolside FM, merch provides some minimal revenue as well.
“We really prioritize the fact that our products should be fun to build and to use,” says Dekker. “There’s a focus on returning to a time when the internet was free and fun. We really wanted to build something positive here.”
The Future of Pool Parties
While Poolside FM has a healthy digital following, Marty Bell hopes its future includes in-person gatherings, which largely depends on COVID and the state of the world.
“I’m most excited about throwing parties, more than anything else,” says Bell. “We’re launching a very on-brand consumer product [in] early summer, which should be really cool. We’ll continue to adapt Poolside FM to more platforms and drop a few exciting collaborations. Whatever feels like it’ll be fun for us to work on, and will make people happy, we’ll do it.”
Until then, it’s all about lightening the mood. “I’m so proud that we’ve made hundreds of thousands of people a little bit happier, even if only for a few minutes,” says Bell. “To have put pixels and pieces of internet together to make something so infectiously positive, I’m really proud of that. I’m proud that huge names in tech are fans of something we’ve thrown together without any money or resources; I saw Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey favorite a tweet about Poolside FM the other day — crazy.”
