Zoneout: Shared Rooms for Real-Time Listening

Zoneout.net is a shared room for real-time listening. Choose tracks from the SoundCloud library, chat, and ponder the WebGL orb in a room with others. Built for musicians and listeners who want to share the experience of hearing something at the same time.

Listening to music together online usually means someone screen-shares a Spotify window or pastes links in a chat. I wanted a dedicated space where a group of people are genuinely synchronised on the same track, at the same moment, with a shared visual atmosphere.

Authoritative Server-Side Sync The Node.js/Express server maintains the authoritative room state: current track, queue, play/pause state and start timestamp. Every browser seeks to the correct playback point on connect and stays synchronised throughout the session. The SoundCloud Widget API handles actual audio playback.

Real-Time Everything Socket.IO carries chat, presence, reactions, queue changes and skip votes over the same live connection. The room feels immediate because everything is.

WebGL2 Orb A WebGL2 orb provides the shared visual atmosphere. It's the thing you stare at while you listen, a campfire for the room.

Queue and Voting Anyone in the room can queue tracks from SoundCloud. Skip votes let the room collectively move on from a track without giving any single person veto power.

Node.js, Express, Socket.IO, SoundCloud Widget API, WebGL2.

Visit at zoneout.net