Mobile Behavior: an Omnicom Group Company

The entertainment industry has many reasons to resent digital technology. Why buy music when you can download via P2P for free? Why go to a game when you have an HD (or even 3D) TV at home? Technology, however, can also be its savior. When used to enhance live entertainment events, mobile can provide a unique, unreproducible experience that people are willing to pay for.

We've seen a number of instances of this. For example, the New Meadowlands Stadium just announced they will soon have an app that lets fans see video replays, updated statistics and live video from other games (and it only works in the stadium).

Augmented reality also has great potential for the constructed and controlled environments of live events. For the upcoming Mysteryland dance festival, ID&T is teaming up with Layar to "augment" the experience through mobile, reports intomobile.

Those attending will be able to start Layar on their iPhone or Android device and do some cool things from the palm of their hand. For instance, there are information on all 150 DJs performing on the 16 stages along with instructions how to get there. Moreover, if you like what you hear, you can directly download the music to your phone via Dance Tunes.

This recalls Zehnder Communications' work for the Voodoo Experience music festival in Louisiana, also done using Layar. Sporting events are another example, see: Junaio superimposing stats on the soccer field.

With iOS 4, developers were presented with over 1500 new APIs, many of which Steve Jobs did not take the time to explain. One of these opens up full access to the user's iTunes library, a big deal for DJs and digital artists.

Create Digital Music explains:

You can now, for instance, scratch audio from songs uploaded from iTunes on a Mac or PC to the device. That is likely to mean a coming flood of DJing on the iPhone and iPod touch, soon to be followed by the iPad whenever the 4.0 OS becomes available for Apple’s tablet.

That flood is coming, but so far, the first app to actually ship with support for the feature is Flare Scratch, a simple simulation of a turntable with touch scratch support. You can scratch any song in your iTunes library.

Many in the DJ community have been playing around with mobile devices as part of their performance. Richie Hawtin has been using an iPad during his Plastikman shows. Opening up access to iTunes is a development that could unlock change and provide artists with new tools.

See Flare Scratch in action here:

This Internet Week, we're working with SoundCtrl to host a Fire-Side Chat between Avner Ronen from Boxee and Tommy Silverman from Tommy Boy Records - they'll square off to debate the hottest issues facing the music industry today. Come early for the open bar and stay late for musical performances by Jared Evan, Free Sol and DJ GETLIVE.

Time:
Thursday, June 10^th @ 7:00 PM

Location:
DROM
85 Avenue A (Between 5^th and 6^th Streets)
New York, NY 10009

Check out the invitation for all the details and RSVP here.

Also, if you can't make it out, the event will be streaming live on the website www.SoundCtrl.com thanks to Watchitoo

From Hong Kong's pill & pillow, Squiggle is an iPad application that presents users with a personalized futuristic string instrument.

Squiggle is an iPad application currently in development that allows you to draw lines on the screen which turn into strings and can be played like guitar. Keeping the device flat, you can draw and modify existing ones. Tilting the device will turn the screen black, allowing you to play them. Turning the device over will clear the screen.

The larger form factor and open nature of the iPad's touchscreen gives musicians creative flexibility. There are piano apps and turntables,  then there are applications like Touch OSC which give the user complete control over what buttons, sliders, and dials are brought up on screen.

See Squiggle demonstrated here.

For those who don't feel like they have enough control over their house party soundtrack, djay Remote is here to help.

djay Remote completely changes the dynamic for DJs at any level – from the party host who can now socialize and mix from her iTunes library at the same time, to the club pro that wants to move from the front of the house and into the audience without missing a beat.

Like the Apple iTunes remote, dJay uses WiFi to control music from a distance. On top of that, users can tweak the EQ, sync BPM, and create smooth transitions between tracks.

[via intomobile]

At last week's Music Hack Day in Stockholm, developers from companies like Spotify, Songkick, and Soundcloud joined together to play with and mash-up data. Last.fm was also present, and awarded anyone who demo'd a hack that used their API. The following examples just go to show the power of open data and collaboration, and how it can be used to shine new light on something like our music listening behaviors.

My City vs. Your City - Compares what different people listen to. By taking a specific piece of data like users' country, we are able to view side-by-side comparisons of what the top artists are in Hamburg, Germany vs. New York City. Once that is done, the tool goes on to rate compatibility with a percentage value.

HacKey - By mashing up Last.fm with Echo Nest, users are able to search their music history by key. The results are presented in a pie chart along with a winner. Taking first for us was B flat major, at 24%. C major took close second.

ProximRadio - Probably most interesting, and relevant to us, was ProximRadio. This mashup watches out for Bluetooth devices with a certain name format, combines the attached Last.fm usernames, and generates a radio station with the intersection of all the users' music tastes.

With all the data out there, those who can dig through, point out, and present insights will be able to provide a lot of value. Opening up data like this isn't only seen in music startups, it is also what powers the strong movement Gov 2.0.

As observed at the Future of Music meetup a couple weeks ago and the collaboration between Hypemachine and SoundCloud, it is obvious that music is headed in an interesting direction. The combination of a variety of organizations' strengths can go to serve a greater purpose. Lets just hope that industry executives realize this potential and embrace open data, user remixes, and the social web; if they do, expect plenty of pleasant surprises.

See the rest of the hacks here.

The Ezison 100 is a speaker system that extends off of your iPhone or iPod touch, creating a miniature electric guitar. Japan-based Bird Electron designed the device to be used with current guitar applications like PocketGuitar. Once an iPhone is placed within the speaker's housing and the headphone jack is plugged in, users can jam out whenever and wherever. Ion Audio provides a similar device for pianists, turning your mobile phone into a powerful mobile core. Being that there is no physical feedback when strumming the strings, we wonder how successful the Ezison 100 will be.