The startups building on top of Spotify’s API are coming thick and fast in 2017. We’ve recently profiled Vertigo Music and Stationhead, but now a service called JQBX is generating some buzz.

It’s the latest iteration of an idea that we’ve seen with Turntable.fm and Soundrop in the past: synchronised online music-listening in ‘rooms’ with chat, voting and other social features.

“Be a DJ! Set up a private room with friends or join a public room with members of the JQBX community,” as its website puts it.

JQBX currently has Mac and iOS versions available, with Android and Windows to come. On startup-discovery site Product Hunt, people are running with the Turntable.fm comparison.

“IMO, this app is even better than the old site. Integrating with Spotify and my playlists makes it so much easier to find music and instantly lets me save my favourite songs that come on,” claimed one user.

In that discussion thread, JQBX’s developer said that he’s aiming to add SoundCloud support soon (“unless Spotify just buys them first”) while suggesting that Apple Music is also on his radar for a mobile integration.

To play sceptic for a minute, while JQBX doesn’t face the licensing costs that ultimately did for Turntable, its challenge will be making money from something built on (and thus dependent on) Spotify’s API.

Stuart Dredge