Spend an afternoon at Astor Place and you might just be lucky enough to become a contestant on Track Star – the online game show is so hot that everyone from Charli XCX to Kamala Harris has asked to play.
“If you can name the artist, you win five bucks,” says host Jack Coyne, as a volunteer bystander slips on a pair of Beats headphones.
After participants share their favorite genres of music, the New York native goes through his extensive catalog, playing snippets of songs he thinks the stranger can guess – enticing them to double their prize in cash with every correct answer.
“The idea of the show is like, it’s not a bad thing, like we’re not trying to put people out,” Coyne, 33, told The Post. “We’re trying to play music that people love and we’re trying to spark a reaction in someone to tell a story about something in their life that the song brings up.”
The über-popular little music series — which boasts more than 730,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram less than two years since its launch — has grown so successful that the biggest names in music have called to be guests, such as Ed Sheeran, Halsey, Camilla Cabello. , Sam Smith, Charli XCX and Paris Hilton.
“We don’t try to get anyone on the show, it’s all in,” Coyne explained. “People ask.”
This includes the first “star artist”, Olivia Rodrigo, who appeared as a guest just over a year ago. At the time, the show only had about 20,000 followers when her camp approached Coyne and the Track Star team.
“That’s when it changed and we realized that the show was becoming a big deal in the music industry,” he recalls.
Track Star even caught the attention of Vice President Kamala Harris, whose team invited Coyne and his crew to the Democratic National Convention to interview the presidential candidate — and ask her about her taste in music.
In fact, Coyne, who called the experience “amazing,” was the first “press” — though not an interview — that Harris had done since winning the nomination.
“When we started getting famous people on the show, we realized that, sure, they’re famous, but they’re just regular people. They are also like all of us”, he said.
“And the same things make them tick, like hearing a song they love will cause the same reaction as a random person they meet on the street and from the most famous person in the world.”
Coyne, with his brother Kieran Coyne and friend Henry Kornaros, created Track Star in January 2023 after launching their media company Public Opinion, which operates a YouTube channel and TikTok page dedicated to NYC trivia and mini-documentaries. about the inner workings of the Big Apple.
“The reason I started doing this is because I’ve always had a lot of faith and optimism about the city and the people who live here, and I wanted to take this opportunity to showcase the citizens of what I think is the greatest city in the world. Coyne said.
The trio, who also produce commercial work for major brands such as Adobe, Gucci and Nike to fund their other creative endeavors, came up with the idea that musical trivia would reach “a much wider spectrum of people” than their content. based in NYC may ‘t.
In just an hour spent at the Astor Place Center — while people run around taking their Wegmans groceries home or rush to class at NYU — Coyne successfully recruited scores of eager volunteers, who recognized him as “ that guy from TikTok”.
When Ben Bernstein, 24, saw Coyne in the corner, he said he “had to” stop and play, despite losing $320 with a wrong answer.
While it may seem like a breeze to guess the artists of your favorite songs, Coyne said there are usually a disproportionate number of losers to winners. Those who score big – like a local firefighter named Ray, who won more than $5,000 and donated to the Tunnel to Towers charity – make it look a lot easier than it is.
As soon as you step in front of the camera and slip on the Beats headphones, your nerves kick in and your confidence disappears.
“I thought I was going to get $40 in a heartbeat,” contestant and Murray Hill resident Liv Hamwee, 23, told The Post after losing the game.
“You definitely have a more positive mindset about it and then you’re in the moment and you’re like, ‘Wait, there’s a million songs out there and I don’t know them all,'” Hamwee said.
And, for that reason, Coyne didn’t repeat a song for the first year of Track Star’s hosting. While he wouldn’t consider himself a “music junkie,” running the show has given him exposure to new artists and songs he might not know otherwise.
“I was trying to figure out who are the 500 most famous and famous artists of all time and how do I know those people? he said. “And when you’re listening to the radio, what comes on most often and can you make sure you’re able to identify those people, the songs that define the culture?”
Despite its growing success and the plethora of high-profile people vying for a spot on the show, there’s still one person Coyne hopes will eventually be invited: Bruce Springsteen.
“My whole life, my whole family listened to Bruce Springsteen. His music has always spoken to me,” said Coyne, who revealed he has seen the New Jersey “legend” in concert seven times. “I think it would be a fun conversation to meet up with someone you’ve looked up to so much and talk music with them.”
While Coyne wouldn’t be averse to reaching out to Springsteen’s team for a guest appearance on Track Star, he hasn’t come through — at least, “not yet.”
“I think this is an open invitation,” he said. “Bruce, if you’re reading this, you’re invited to the show.”
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