As far as I can tell, the main goal of the Earworms app is to make your friends stop talking to you, or, at the very least, stop opening your emails. At least that would be my response if my friends repeatedly sent me short clips of such classic tracks as Lou Bega’s Mambo No. 5 or Toni Basil’s Mickey.
Yes, the earworms mentioned in the app title don’t refer to some terrible parasite, but rather to a type of song that has hooks so deep you’ll be humming the choruses after hearing them just once. Unfortunately, in the case of this app, the earworms in question seem to be purposely really irritating songs.
While there’s the occasional Hey Ya, by Outkast, there’s much more in the style of Aqua’s Barbie Girl, to be found here. Earworms lets you play a short clip of one of the 20 songs on the app, or you can just send the clip directly to one of your friends in an email. The email sends links to play whatever song you sent, but without revealing the song.
This is a pretty long con, as far as dumb-song jokes go. I’m not entirely sure it’s worth it, but even aside from the nature of the joke, the design of this app could use a little work. The font and coloring resemble some sort of Woodstock-esque look, but the in-app text, laid out sideways, is a bit cumbersome to read.
Twenty song clips for a buck isn’t a bad deal, though. There are also additional song packs for purchase, should you tire of sending Achy Breaky Heart to your old college roommate.
I find myself wishing I could read a little bit about these bad songs, rather than just play and email them off. If the app were more robust in this way, it wouldn’t feel like a waste of time. There are certainly plenty of people who will get a kick out of this serviceable prank app, but, for me, this joke is too one-note.
