Blend: An Online Tool for Music Collaboration and Discovery
The story of the solitary solo artist, and now that of the hermetic bedroom producer, is almost as ubiquitous as modern music itself. But for every insular mind tediously crafting tunes in the wee hours of the morning, there are duos, trios, and bands burning the midnight oil by the wick of teamwork.
Technology has been pivotal in forging relationships between many aspiring musicians; the internet acting as a meeting place for a collaborators, remixers, and DJs, and the laptop computer the obvious point of entry. But web collabs bring with them a slew of complications — limited storage space, data corruption, unorganized session files, and not to mention the risk of a record leak. To aid the process of remote collaboration while fostering a new engine for discovery, the creators of Blend.io have invented a tool that harnesses the collective powers of the internet, powerful DAWs, and the spirit of the music community.
Equally social as it is functional, Blend.io introduces new artists to a community of producers and listeners, who are in turn invited to remix, refigure, and provide feedback on songs, productions, and works in progress.
Users upload bounces of their tracks to a unique project page, which states the DAW and version used to create the record, as well as a download link to “pull” the project’s session files. Each time a new user pulls the project, the update is listed in the project’s feed with links to the other artists’ collaborations. Blend requires a Dropbox account to use, as all of the user’s files are hosted by the storage service. On the social end, users can follow each other within the Blend platform.When publishing a new project, users can save versions and upload the various stages of their work to get feedback on projects. Projects remain in a user’s profile and are viewable by the Blend community.
Besides being a tool for collaboration and connection, Blend is shedding light on a creative issue unique to this era of music production, particularly on account of our access to technology. Artists of all backgrounds are often hesitant to share new work, with the fear that is hasn’t been perfected or isn’t up to a popular standard — a bar continually raised by engineering and production prowess across the board. However, music production as a discipline often lacks the mentorship that comes along with traditional instrumental performance, and Blend is a great avenue for getting in touch with other musicians of lesser, equal, or greater experience for providing or gleaning insight. Plus, the journey of a musician supported by a community of welcoming individuals (especially those who will promote new artists through remixes) is an endearing one, and could be a great backdrop for a larger artistic story.
Blend has already featured projects and contests by musicians including Moby, Prefuse 73, Erin Barra, plus/minus, and Mad Zach, who have hosted albums, stems, and sound packs on Blend, offering other musicians an opportunity to “blend” their own ideas. Blend shows promise as new tool for record labels as well, as production skills do carry value within the framework of the platform, and A&Rs could very well use Blend to source new talent.
As an added treat, here’s a special invitation to Blend.io for the SoundCtrl readers. We hope you enjoy exploring and interacting with the steadily growing community of collaborators!
