# Post 4 — Jun 24 · Tocador

**Angle:** Product + design + cultural identity

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I moved from Brazil to Berlin to Basel. The music came with me — but Spotify's algorithm never quite figured out what I was actually listening to.

So I built my own player.

**Tocador** is a Spotify-alternative with a catalogue of 7,000+ Brazilian artists, curated and indexed by hand. No recommendation algorithm, no ads, no "because you listened to X." Just artists, genres, and a search that works.

It's live at **tocador.cc** — and it still runs, four years later.

I built it in a weekend because I was frustrated. It ended up teaching me more about product design, music metadata, and what "simple" actually requires than most client projects I've taken on.

Sometimes the side projects that start from irritation are the ones that last.

🔗 tocador.cc
🔗 github.com/rafapolo/tocador