Bop Spotter, A Box on a Pole With a Shazam-Enabled Phone in San Francisco That Listens For Music

Engineer Riley Walz has created Bop Spotter", a box containing a solar-powered Android phone using Shazam that is mounted on a pole in the Mission District of San Francisco, that listens and documents what music is being played on the street. The project was inspired by ShotSpotter, a service that listens for the sounds of gunfire in order to alert law enforcement.

Heard of ShotSpotter? Microphones are installed across cities in the United States by police to detect gunshots, purported to not be very accurate. This is that, but for music. This is culture surveillance. No one notices, no one consents. But it's not about catching criminals. It's about catching vibes. A constant feed of what's popping off in real-time.

I installed a box high up on a pole somewhere in the Mission. Inside is a crappy Android phone, set to Shazam constantly, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It's solar powered, and the mic is pointed down at the street below https://t.co/8D4yYNBPgu pic.twitter.com/pyYzUltJQX

- Riley (@rtwlz) September 30, 2024