It’s usually the back pages of a publication that are used for the lonely-hearts section, but in this case, its position in the news column is apt. Two young London-based men – one of them Irish – have set up a dating website for music lovers to meet their matches.

Tastebuds.fm, which is a completely free service, asks users to input their location and list their favourite bands and artists. They're then paired with the people who share common musical ground with them. For those who find musical harmony a critical facet of any relationship it's a godsend.

The idea for the site first came to Julian Keenaghan, a native of Banagher, Co Offaly, and Alex Parish, from Saffron Walden in Essex, when they played together in a band.

Combining their experience in web design with their love of music, they formulated a plan to link the functions of a dating site with social and music networking platform Last.fm. The site now has more than 10,000 users since its launch last June, and its database of Irish users is growing daily.

"Many say that the site is something that helps break the ice and start a conversation online, as well as a cool service through which to discover new music – as well as potentially some new gig partners," said Keenaghan.