By Valerie Turpin

The students of the USC School of Cinematic Arts are known for their good taste and, thanks to the work of the Interactive Media Division, promoting their new favorite bands is entering the digital age.

Games and music collide online in cred.fm, a Facebook game that lets you discover great tunes, meet interesting people and get bragging rights as a music tastemaker. The game was created by Research Associate Professor Chris Swain and spun off as a startup company.

“It’s a way of finding great music that you wouldn’t have found otherwise,” said Swain. “It allows people who play the game well to be recognized for their taste. It started as a research project at the university. Once it won the award, we spun it off.”

Among many of its perks, cred.fm allows its users to discover new music and join online parties, as well as offering the ability to earn higher Cred scores and recommend bands to their followers. Now, the effort put into seeking new bands can be recognized and rewarded, all through the convenience of a social networking site.

“We know that game mechanics are very engaging,” continued Swain. “We know that people are very passionate about music. Some people will do it because they care about it without any mechanics but we added it and it essentially expands who the engaged people are in the social network.”

To jump into the world of music networking or for more information, visit www.cred.fm.