From today, December 26 to January 6, Apple will be giving away one free gift each day from the iTunes Store.  Each day, Apple will offer a song, app, book, or movie on its 12 Days of Gifts app, downloadable for free.  Today, Apple is giving away an EP from Justin Timberlake’s 2013 iTunes Festival performance in London, featuring four live versions of hits by the pop singer. Gifts are contingent on geographic location, so international customers may be given different free downloads throughout the week.

The post Apple Kicks Off 12 Days of Gifts with Justin Timberlake appeared first on SoundCtrl.

by Brian Parker

CanOpener is the impressive new app from audio engineer Devin Kerr and software engineer Rob Stenson, which optimizes the spatial balance, equalization, and sound pressure level for listening to music in headphones. CanOpener uses Kerr and Stenson’s proprietary crossfeed algorithm ,which corrects the discrepancy between listening to music in headphones and listening on loudspeakers.

Music produced on loudspeakers is specifically mixed so that the audio coming from the left and right speakers in a stereo channel are experienced by both ears. However, in headphones, music from the right channel goes only to the right ear, and music from the left channel goes only to the left. This leaves a significant angle of sound out of the mix, without which music lacks a level of depth and wideness.  CanOpener’s Crossfeed function allows you to adjust this “wideness” to achieve a more accurate listening experience. Furthermore, CanOpener allows you to pick your headphones (or any other output device) from a list, allowing optimization for specific models.

CanOpener also sports a beautiful equalizer with various presets and spectrogram skins, making the interface both functional and appealing. The app volume is adjusted based on SPL in decibels, rather than Apple’s typical, arbitrary click-and-drag volume slider. An additional feature of CanOpener is the dosimeter, which measures your exposure to sound level over a period of time, meaning you can keep an accurate tab on the safety of your ears during listening sessions.

We had an opportunity to ask Rob Stenson a few questions about CanOpener’s background and functionality, as well as how he and Devin envision the app for the future.

SoundCtrl: When did you develop the concept and prototype of CanOpener? What were your backgrounds before this project?

Rob Stenson: Devin is an audio mastering engineer with a background in sound engineering and psychoacoustics. He developed CanOpener’s core crossfeed algorithm and equalizer as part of his masters thesis on spatial audio processors at the University of Michigan. I’m a software engineer specializing in interfaces, although my background in college was architectural history. Before starting work on CanOpener, I was a software engineer at Twitter, working on the twitter.com interface.

We started work on the iOS version of CanOpener in January of this year, after a mutual friend put us in touch; he realized we had complementary skill-sets, and a shared interest in music (I’m a banjo-player when I’m not writing code). From there we just started widdling away at the app you see now. Here’s a visual history of the app, from the first prototype to the current release.

SC: In the future, do you see CanOpener supporting streaming music apps?

RS: While we do hope to integrate a streaming service — like Rdio, Spotify, or Bandcamp — we’ve been unable to contact those companies to work out licensing deals. We actually have an in-house proof-of-concept that streams directly from Spotify, and it’s a blast to play around with. But, at present, our hands our tied by the various companies API’s and terms-of-service agreements.

SC: Will CanOpener ever function as a mobile device’s complete EQ/audio enhancement system for all of its audio?

RS: We would love to make this happen, but apps on iOS and Android are highly sandboxed, meaning it would be quite difficult (probably impossible without major changes from the device manufacturers) to pull off this level of integration. Something like Audiobus comes close, but that’s more focused on music-making rather than listening. Of course, if Apple did make some changes to their audio system (recent changes in iOS7 hint at this), we would definitely take advantage.

SC: At what stage in the iPhone’s audio chain does CanOpener process sound?

RS: We access audio files in the same way as the stock Music app on iOS, so our app handles everything from reading samples out of a file to passing them directly to the audio output. All of the CanOpener DSP is applied right before we send the samples to the hardware, so it’s the last thing to happen in our audio chain.

SC: Is CanOpener available for both iPhone and Android?

RS: At the moment, CanOpener is iOS-only. We’d love to support Android (and we’ve had quite a few interested customers ask us for an Android version), but a few factors are working against us: Android’s audio system is less sophisticated than iOS’s, and there are so many Android devices out there that we’d have to measure in order to provide the level of quality characteristic of CanOpener on iOS. The major reason though is that we’re only a two-man operation. (Hopefully there are some Android audio programmers reading your post, we’d love to get in touch.) That said, CanOpener is available on Mac OS X as the FHX add-on to the the Fidelia app by Audiofile Engineering.

SC: What are the next stages of updates that you’d like to develop for the app?

RS: We have some very cool in-app purchases planned for 2014, as well as some overdue features (like iPad landscape-orientation support). We’ve also started work on a few other apps, including Speaker+ (currently in beta tests).

CanOpener is currently available on the iTunes App Store for $2.99. Stay tuned to the Good Hertz website for new mobile audio apps, and CanOpener via Twitter @CanOpener.

The post [Interview] Rob Stenson of CanOpener appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Brian Parker

It has certainly been a formative year for the Sweden-based Spotify, if not a busy one for their marketing team.  The streaming service received backlash from Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and producer Nigel Godrich back in October, veraciously speaking on behalf of burgeoning artists who receive notably low per-play payments.  A variety of reports and infographics have provided breakdowns on the numbers (even one predicting the uproar back in 2010), but Spotify defended its business model as the spearhead for a new industry format, not to mention the company’s $1bn worth of paid-out royalties to-date.

Despite the hype, Spotify is charging forward into 2014 with today’s announcement of free streaming on mobile and tablet devices…with the catch of it being limited to shuffle play. This isn’t quite the premium user experience, but less obsessive music fans can take their music on the go without paying a monthly fee. The free mobile experience will allow users to shuffle playlists, artist catalogues, and pre-made playlists, much like its own version of non-terrestrial radio.

Today also brings the news of Spotify acquiring rights to feature the much-awaited Led Zeppelin catalogue, a powerful cap to the company’s hugely successful 2013. This announcement comes on the tails of Spotify boastfully launching Year In Review, which shows off the popular playlists, songs, and artists of 2013, while highlighting its user base’s growth in the last twelve months.

Though the company purports its own nascency, Spotify’s growth doesn’t seem to correlate with its reasoning behind the controversial compensation and royalty structure. While Spotify is clearly offering exposure to new artists, the back catalogues of major label artists seem to be the real beneficiaries of the $1 billion generated in royalties. Spotify’s efficiency in providing a universal source of free music may come at the risk of devaluing new art, continuing the struggle for creators who wish to implement, and not boycott, potentially supportive digital technologies.

The post Spotify Tops Off 2013 With Freebies, Led Zeppelin, And A Year In Review appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Kira Grunenberg

The waves keep rolling for Ireland-based Soundwave, the real-time, global syncing, music discovery app. The last major boost for Soundwave was just released in September, embracing the power of iOS7. It gave the app a significant functional and visual overhaul, greatly exciting its worldwide user base.

Less than three months later, the company’s next move to improve now involves the integration of music videos from YouTube. One of Soundwave’s biggest draws is its “hands free” strategy. After signing up, users need to do nothing more than play music in order to appear active within the Soundwave community. A non user might on the outside might see the concept as less engaging, but it’s actually just less invasive: people can use the app at will, instead of being forced, in order to build their library and app presence.

In order to optimize this method of engagement, Soundwave is constantly working to ensure that as many music players and streaming services as possible are capable of being detected, and their song plays captured. The more players that are included, the more natural a user’s music activity will be, as users won’t be inclined to shift sporadically between apps. The new addition of YouTube is a huge advancement for Soundwave because it opens the doors for an entire listener demographic, which would otherwise may be underserved or limited, based on users’ “underage” statuses. Soundwave Founder and CEO, Brendan O’Driscoll, explains:

“Younger demographics…use YouTube like a streaming service. A lot of these guys aren’t old enough to have extensive mp3 collections stored on their hard drives and they don’t have credit cards to purchase streaming subscriptions – so YouTube becomes the one stop shop for music consumption.”

One recurring issue with YouTube integration is whether an app can discern between quality media and the mass of impertinent videos of cats. Since Soundwave is only after music, filtering is a priority, and the app pulls it off with painless fluidity. Utilizing the capabilities of YouTube’s own tagging and content sorting system and in-house filtering, Soundwave HQ is able to bring the music in and keep the memes out.

This update is certain to bring a boom to the overall number of plays and pin drops on the Soundwave globe, especially from the tween and young teen demographic. Its inclusion may lead to an increase in YouTube-exclusive releases, or, releases from independent artists not working through outlets like Spotify, Rdio or Deezer, already synced with Soundwave. With a longstanding success and more than six billion hours of video played each month in 61 countries, YouTube will only bolster Soundwave’s growing global momentum.

Whether you want to get right to updating, or are only hearing of Soundwave for the first time, you can download the new version from the iTunes App Store or Google Play Store now.

Kira is an old school music nerd with a love for all things creative; always searching for music’s common ground. She graduated with an M.A. in Performing Arts Administration from New York University. Drop her a tweet @shadowmelody1

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By Jason Epstein

Recently, music streaming service Spotify released data revealing that each song play nets rights holders somewhere between $0.006 and $0.0084.  Yep, a fraction of a fraction of a cent.  Doesn’t seem like much, does it?

However, Spotify generates an average of $41 per user, which is significantly more than the $25 that Spotify says the average U.S. adult pays for music each year.  Last year, the company lost $80M, but just last month, gained $250M in new funding, which brings the company’s value just above $4B.  One million plays on Spotify will generate between $6,000 and $8,400.  Compare that to $3,000 on YouTube, or between $1,300 to $1,500 on Pandora, or $41 on a radio station, and Spotify’s payout doesn’t seem so bad.  The difference is that Google has a billion YouTube users and Apple has 600 million iTunes users, while Spotify has just above 24 million users, about a quarter of whom are actually paying for the service.

In 2013, Spotify says it will have paid a total of $500 million in artist royalties, which is half of the entirety of their payouts since the streaming service was launched in 2008.  This information is part of the new Spotify Artists page, a sub-site where rights holders can track performance using various analytics tools.

Although troubled by artist backlash against low payouts, Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek recently mentioned that the company is trying to usher in a revolution, moving physical music to the digital space and “selling access, not ownership.”  Of artists, Mr. Ek says, “All they see is millions of streams and they see, you know, not millions of dollars in the end, but thousands of dollars, and they think that a million streams is compatible to a million downloads, which it obviously isn’t.”

Spotify says that the more subscribers they have, the bigger the payouts will be, but what’s not clear is if they mean to project an increase in listens with an increased number of subscribers, or if there will be more listens per subscriber as the streaming service becomes more widely accepted.  This seems like a placation, and a dodging of the real issue at hand.  Spotify does, however, plan to launch the ability for users to buy tickets and band merchandise beginning in 2014, which could provide a more effective means of diversifying artist revenue production.

To read up on past coverage of Spotify news, check out articles here and here.

The post Do The Numbers Behind Spotify Payouts Add Up? appeared first on SoundCtrl.

by Carolyn Heneghan

We know apps can play, stream, store, share, identify, and even recommend music—but could they also be responsible for predicting the next hottest songs, artists, and albums?

Earlier this year, Billboard announced its Streaming Songs charts, which take into consideration the top picks from services like YouTube, Vevo, Spotify, Muve Music, Rhapsody, Xbox Music and more. These music apps play a part in delivering information about the current top spots for songs and artists. But instead of simply proving which are global favorites based on plays, purchases, and other aspects of big music data, some music apps are beginning to use that information to predict future favorites.

Shazam claims they can. The song identification service just announced its Top 10 Breaking Artists of 2014 based on “user curiosity,” and Billboard seems to back its viability. But how can Shazam be so sure of its predictions?

When Music App Predictions Have Hit the Mark

But let’s back up a bit. Before jumping into next year, we can look as far back as 2011 to see where some of Shazam’s music predictions did actually hit the mark. In short, Shazam identifies music based on short clips of the song it hears through your Shazam-enabled device, so the app’s biggest pool of data comes from the songs identified the most. They use this song tag data to formulate predictions for the next hottest song, artist, or trend.

One of Shazam’s earliest predictions was that hip-hop would dominate 2011. While Top-10 lists can be extremely subjective, MTV’s list does in fact confirm this prediction, with half of the top 10 being hip hop artists. Hip hop also stood for about 30 percent of Billboard’s Top 50 songs of 2011. While hip-hop didn’t sweep the Grammy’s, Shazam did hit on the right notes, so to speak.

In 2012, Shazam released another set of predictions, this time for the summer jams of 2012. At the end of May, the service predicted that, based on song tags from its users, Gotye, Usher, Maroon 5 ft. Wiz Khalifa, Calvin Harris ft Ne-Yo, Rick Ross ft. Usher and Nicki Minaj would be among the top summer artists for 2012. Again, while top music lists are entirely subjective, many of these hits appeared on many lists released throughout the rest of the summer season.

With 2013 came both a more definitive judgment of these big data predictions plus a little friendly competition. Just before the big awards show, both Shazam and music streaming service Spotify released their Grammy predictions based on their own user-generated data sets. The results were surprisingly close and surprisingly similar.

With correct guesses for four out of six categories, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Country Song and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Spotify made out with 67 percent accuracy. Shazam went for even more predictions, and having correctly surmised 11 out of 16 categories, its accuracy percentage won out at 69 percent.

What about SoundHound’s accurate predictions for some of the 2011 Grammy nominees? Or Pandora’s ability to predict more music you’d like based on hundreds of musical attributes for each song? Shazam isn’t the first to harness big data in light of the future of music, and it certainly won’t be the last.

What This Means for the Music Industry

Armed with endless data points, Shazam and other music apps have found a way to become a bionic ear to the ground for the music industry. While not perfect—and what prediction could be in light of the subjectivity of music—these predictions are often eerily accurate. And what’s more eerie, perhaps, is that organic human tendencies and preferences can be so astutely broken down and processed by big data and computers.

Imagine where the music industry would head if some of these apps combined their sets of data points. What if Pandora could take Shazam’s predictions for the top new artists of 2014 and then analyze each artist’s musical attributes to come up with another set of even farther-reaching possibilities for top breaking artists of next year?

To take it in another direction, what if music industry leaders, such as record labels and producers, take Pandora’s analyses of those top artists’ attributes and create songs that embody those very qualities—turning those predictions into the next manufactured set of top-40 hits? Could boiling down music into tiny bits of data end up killing the creation process and churn out the music that a set of programs tells music listeners they want to hear? If we’re afraid that much of top-40 is already manufactured as it is, what kind of harm could ultra-specific data sets do to rig the sways of popular opinion regarding music as we know it?

It isn’t all doom and gloom—when it comes down to it, no one is ever going to squash musical intellect and innovation. But it begs the consideration of what it means for music when it becomes more digitized and thus more removed from its original organic art form.

While big data has granted these apps the ability to make informed predictions about the future of music, it hasn’t enabled them to be right all the time (see Grammy predictions 2013). However, as big data gets bigger and pieces of data get more refined, you may see these predictions becoming even more scarily accurate over time.

The post When Music Apps See the Future: How Big Data Predicts Music Trends appeared first on SoundCtrl.

As with buying any new technology, the purchase of new speakers comes loaded with questions and thoughts of potential buyer’s remorse. Is it compatible with my MP3 player or smartphone? Can I link it to those devices through a Bluetooth connection? Does it come with a remote? And, of course, the biggest of them all: Am I getting the best bang for my buck?

I’ve thought long and hard about all of these questions while deciding on the right wireless speaker for me. In my case, I’m a recent college graduate in need of something relatively wallet-friendly, sleek, and sure to fill  my apartment with sound. After trips to various stores and trying out plenty of options, I found that these five were the best picks. A few are well outside of my price range, but maybe they’ll be the best fit for your setup!

Jabra Solemate

Right out of the gate we have the cheapest option of the bunch at $150 or less. The cutely named Solemate will certainly do the job if you’re looking for something affordable and able to withstand your favorite tunes and calls on speakerphone. The main downside is that the bass isn’t really present at all. That means it’s not the best option if you require those deep kicks coming through and rattling your walls during dance parties, or listening sessions. Still, it’s a powerful lil’ sucker and it’s got some other great reviews out there, just in case the lower price-tag worries you. It can be connected over wireless or Bluetooth, though there’s no remote included.

Jawbone Big Jambox

The Jambox is right in the middle of these picks price-wise, and was the most enticing after I read up about it on Verizon’s blog, The Mobile Life. They spoke with a Latin artist who used the Jambox as his main speaker at a party and sure enough, it worked great for the occasion. After testing it out myself, I can concur. It’s got a great battery life, which means you won’t have to worry about it turning off mid-party. The only thing is that you shouldn’t play it too loud if you’re listening to bass-heavy music, otherwise those kicks will get slightly distorted. It supports wireless and Bluetooth but doesn’t come with a remote. The price (usually between $250 and $300) doesn’t hurt either.

Klipsch Gallery G-17 Air

This Klipsch speaker caught my attention after I read this glowing review over at Digital Trends. I just had to check it out and hear the purportedly great sound quality. After listening to it pump out music for a good 10 minutes, I can agree that it’s a superb piece of equipment for its size. Prices can get out of hand (closer to $500) if you don’t look around enough, so do some snooping online. Unlike the others, though, it doesn’t support Bluetooth but it does have a wireless remote.

Bose SoundLink Bluetooth Mobile Speaker II

The Bose brand name is clearly a huge draw here, but as any audiophiles know, it can also mean a huge price-tag. Luckily this one can be found at around $300, which isn’t that bad given its solid sound and speakerphone capabilities. It also can handle any low-end that you throw at it, so don’t be afraid to crank the volume if you’re listening to bassy songs. Also, it supports both wireless and Bluetooth, though it doesn’t come with a remote.

Bowers & Wilkins Z2

While the Z2 looks fantastic and has killer sound, it was the one that was too far out of my price-range to consider a purchase at $400. Still, I had to test it out to hear the quality described in this Wire review, which nailed it in terms of describing the sound as “bright and full.” The worrisome bit, however, is that it’s really only for people using Apple products. And as we all know, not everyone is invested in iEverything, making the Z2 a miss for plenty of folks. Still, if you’ve got the deeper pockets and need a strong speaker with sharp aesthetics, this is a fine option. It doesn’t support Bluetooth, but it does come with a wireless remote.

Hopefully this roundup of wireless speaker reviews is as helpful for you as it was for me!

Kevin Gannon is a contributing writer and recent college graduate who enjoys covering topics on music and technology. He specializes in industry trends, album reviews, and music accessories.

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By Michael Valinsky

On November 8^th, Samsung opened up a series of nine pop-studios across the country, with a New York  location in SoHo at 130 Prince St. The concept is fantastic and one-of-a-kind. The space is purely promotional, which means (and to quote one of the employees), “they are trying to give as much as they can back to the customers.” The location is divided in multiple different stations.

For starters, you check in at the entrance to receive your Samsung card – a card that you will use at all the stations to accumulate points and maybe win a prize (including a brand New Samsung Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Gear and more.)

Once you check in, here are your options:

- Walk over to the “Experience Stations” where you can get a hands-on experience of the newest Samsung products, the Galaxy Note 3, the  Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition, and the Galaxy Gear.

- Step into the “Entertainment Lounge” where you can check out devices, lounge around on couches, play with the WatchOn app on the tablet – from where you can control the flat screen TV and watch whatever you want – or seat yourself at the gaming station.

- After you lounge, or perhaps before, grab free coffee and cupcakes in the “Café,” a collaboration with Illy and the AirGesture app.

- There are two options for memorabilia. The first is the “Photo Station”, where two pictures are taken of you. One of them is for you and you can hang the other up on the wall and join the space. The second is the “Design Studio” where you can design a holiday greeting card or a mug or T-Shirt or Christmas tree ornament with any image you want! Takes about 5 minutes for the products to be made.

-Finally, if you own the Samsung Gear, you should gear up  at the “Accessories Station”. The station is in collaboration with Piperlime.com with merchandise varying from bags to earrings, bracelets, sunglasses, and necklaces.

Everything in the space is free and made to accommodate customers around the holiday seasons. The space will be closing on December 31^st so hurry up, get yourself a mug, and check out these great new devices.

For media inquiries, contact Christi Lardy at [email protected]

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By Brian Parker

It charges in five-minutes.

That’s an easy selling point for Helium, the new, revolutionary powered speaker by Portland-based boutique technology company Blueshift. Helium is the first speaker powered by supercapacitors, an upgradable and infinitely repairable source of power. Supercapacitors charge (and discharge) faster than lithium ion batteries, and they don’t use the same environmentally harmful chemicals.

Blueshift’s design for Helium doesn’t stop with the power supply–the rigid bamboo construction is a  great acoustic housing for the full-range speaker cones, which run efficiently to allow Helium to run for up to six hours on one charge. Helium also supports Bluetooth connectivity and has an auxiliary jack for plugging in phones, mobile devices, and anything else with an audio output.

Blueshift founder Sam Beck began implementing capacitor power in a design for portable bicycle speakers back in 2009. As capacitors became more affordable over the years, he shifted focus to a wider speaker production that now includes Copper, a speaker that requires power and audio sources, and Helium. Blueshift’s design philosophy is based on open-source hardware, a new trend in technology that follows the openness and availability of software developers’ codes and programs. With this philosophy, the circuitry of newer technologies can be adapted and improved upon in a variety of ways, and will help reduce the rapid onset of technological obsolescence.

However, Helium is only in the prototype stage. Currently undergoing a massive crowd-funding campaign on Crowd Supply, Blueshift is raising funds to get approval for FCC compliance and to put the device in full production. Within the campaign, several pledge levels guarantee early adopters a range of rewards, including DIY capacitor kits, the Copper speaker, and pilot versions of Helium Mono and Helium Stereo.

With 28 days to go, you could be a lucky recipient of some truly groundbreaking technology!

Keep up with Blueshift on Twitter and Facebook.

The post Helium: Blueshift’s Portable Supercapacitor-Powered Speaker appeared first on SoundCtrl.

It would be a discredit to Clams Casino to merely call him a hip-hop producer. The last few years have brought the New Jersey native into the limelight of a new wave of hip-hop that is informed by both the layered contexts of an internet-fueled subculture and by the unavoidable fusion of electronic, experimental, and indie music with rap and pop alike. Artists such as Lil’B, A$AP Rocky, Mac Miller, and Blood Orange have all sought out Clams’ hazy, tripping productions, and his EPs and remixes have been Soundcloud hits.

To promote their new string of detachable laptops, technology manufacturer HP is collaborating with the young producer to show off his production prowess and their computers’ production power. Clams Casino will be producing “2Days Beat ft. Vic Mensa“ live on YouTube on Monday November 18th and Tuesday November 19th, taking directive cues from commenters as inspiration. The HP computer in use will be the the HP Split x2 Ultrabook, which functions as both a notebook computer and as a detachable tablet PC as a competitor to the Microsoft Surface.

HP posted a short video displaying the functionality of the dual device, as well as how the young producer incorporates the machine into his personal production setup.  Tune into HP’s YouTube channel to get in on the conversation.

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Google has unsurprisingly announced its foray into music via Google Glass, the revolutionary device that allows users to engage with their environments interactively. Google Glass will now have music search, playback, and identification capabilities, and the company is releasing its own lightweight earbuds to complement the new features. Glass is still both expensive and limited, but these periodic additions make us wonder if Google will be rolling out consumer-level versions in the near future.

Google uploaded this  YouTube video of hip-hop producer, engineer, and DJ  Young Guru using Google Glass before and during a studio session in LA:

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By Kira Grunenberg

When it comes to music technology, sales through ubiquitous companies like Amazon or iTunes represent a well-recognized benchmark of progress. Managing that feat more than once is all the more impressive, and many independent innovators haven’t attained that success.

Portland, Oregon’s Carbon Audio, is a retailer that can put one, and now two such feathers in its cap. The launch of the company’s new Pocket Speaker shows one giant that has clearly taken to Carbon Audio’s product potential without hesitation.

A young company of only two years, Carbon Audio came about in 2011 and though it only carries two pieces of hardware thus far, both wireless speakers, the pair of pieces have gleaned the attention of computer, media and music leader, Apple. The first piece, a portable speaker “bar” called ZOOKA, built for i-devices, was originally proposed via Kickstarter and the public wanted in on the action. The funding exceeded the $25,000 goal by nearly three times the amount. That success led to Apple’s intrigue and now Pocket Speaker has easily done the same.

Available today via Apple’s online store, the Pocket Speaker is just that: a wirelesss, Bluetooth-enabled playback device that can fit in a pocket as easily as any smartphone–one of the most prevalent sources for music playback. Right from the start, one might wonder where the sense is in purchasing something that offers listening outside the privacy of headphones, especially if it’s meant to be so portable and carried on your person.

Pocket Speaker’s charm is in not just its size but in its power. Less than one inch in depth, the device recalls the familiar shape of the iPhone/iPod and is hardly more cumbersome, and doesn’t compromise audio quality or product flexibility based on its size.

Here is a list of the primary tech specifications:

• 22mm thin frame

• Frequency response of 120 Hz-20,000 Khz

• Maximum Power: 5 watt RMS / 8 watt Peak

• Bluetooth 3.0 wireless technology

• Genuine wireless dual-pairing capability allows two speakers to pair wirelessly with one music device for left/right surround sound

• Double-sided sound architecture means there’s no “quiet side” of the speaker

• An internal microphone allows for taking conference calls

• Charges using a patented micro-USB/3.5 mm cable hybrid for up to eight hours of play time

• Wirelessly play and manage music from up to 30 feet/9.1 meters away

• 3.5mm hybrid Aux cable allows play music from analog music devices as well

The questionable practicality of the Pocket Speaker is addressed by the user’s setting and environment. A small but power-packed, externally focused playback device will probably not replace your mobile phone and earbuds on the commuter rail or at school, since not everyone will want to hear your “guilty pleasures” playlist. However, the size and ease of movement makes it an ideal partner at outdoor parties where an outlet is nowhere in sight or, perhaps for the athlete who wants to have music playing but doesn’t want to risk blocking out important extraneous noise (e.g. cars) while running. The idea of having a no-hassle, pocket-size surround sound experience is appealing as well and fills its own perfect convenience niche that, after use, wil be something most users won’t want to go without.

Lastly, mirroring Apple’s recent affinity for color with the iPhone 5C, Pocket Speaker has six color options in white, black, pink, yellow, blue and green. The $99.95 price tag is a reasonable buy for the power it packs, and, by providing an easily accessible customer care branch listed right on Carbon Audio’s website,  the Pocket Speaker is definitely meant to be a lasting hardware investment.

You can check out Pocket Speaker’s promotional video below and buy one from Apple here.

Carbon Audio can be found on Facebook and Twitter @carbonaudio.

Kira is an old school music nerd with a love for all things creative; always searching for music’s common ground. She graduated with an M.A. in Performing Arts Administration from New York University. Drop her a tweet @shadowmelody1

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By Carolyn Heneghan

YouTube is already lauded as a giant in the world of music and music videos, and with a new music subscription service on the horizon, it stands to throttle mobile music consumption as we know it.

Set to be launched by the end of this year, YouTube’s currently unnamed (or at least, name unreleased) music subscription service will offer users a way to access unlimited, on-demand music and music videos uninterrupted by ads. They’ll be able to stream full albums rather than the one or two singles the artist might have released videos for. Another premium feature, users can cache songs and videos for offline listening on their mobile devices.

Additionally, a free, ad-supported version of the streaming service will play music videos one after another, like the former model of MTV. Longer viewing means more commercial watching, so this may be a lucrative business move for YouTube as well.

The music subscription service should also coincide with a revamped YouTube app that will allow YouTube to run in the background of a mobile device.

YouTube’s parent company Google has had plans for the music subscription service for some time now, having already secured music licenses with Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group when preparing to launch its current music streaming service, All Access, which launched in May.

Moving Toward Mobile Music

YouTube executives have reported that about 40 percent of its viewing takes place on mobile devices, which is a huge surge since being only 6 percent of viewing just two years ago. This is not restricted to YouTube by any means—mobile is the latest trend in media consumption, and the technology is being adopted at an astounding rate, including both smartphones and tablets.

Consumers want to be able to access their music easily, quickly, and from anywhere.  In line with Walkmans and mp3 players before them, modern mobile devices offer the best and most convenient portable music experiences available. In turn, more music and media providers are turning toward capitalizing on this growing mobile market, and YouTube is simply adapting to the movements of its customer base.

Successful Business Model?

The big question is, will these features be enough of an improved user experience to encourage YouTube watchers to pay $10 for the subscription rather than simply continuing to watch the ad-supported version for free?

With the volume of YouTube users and video streams—1 billion users streaming 6 billion hours of video per month—even a slight adoption of the subscription service from its user base could mean big bucks for YouTube and parent company, Google.

For example, if one-tenth of YouTube’s current users switched to the subscription service, YouTube would generate around $1 billion per month from subscriptions alone, not counting how much they would make in advertising revenue as well. While one-tenth of the user base may be generous, particularly in the service’s infancy, the numbers do emulate just how financially viable such a service might be.

As revenue from monthly subscriptions would be much steadier and more reliable than pay per clicks—whose rates are dropping due to users’ switch to smartphones and tablets—the new music subscription service appears to be a sustainable business model, and one that could propel YouTube and Google forward in the realm of mobile music and media consumption.

As more music streaming services are now offering paid subscriptions, such as Spotify and Pandora, this move for YouTube appears to be in line with the wave of the future of music listening—one that is sustainable both for the media providers as well as the record companies and musicians themselves.

Keep an ear to the ground—or to your mobile device—around December when the YouTube music subscription service is slated to be released.

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By Brian Parker

Piggybacking the HTC slogan and initiative Here’s To Change, the UK branch of the company has been working with product designers in a new program called Here’s To Creativity. The first collaboration between HTC and designer Justin Wolter realized a beautiful and innovative 3D printed speaker called the Gramohorn II, formatted to be a dock for the HTC One.

The Gramohorn II is a passive speaker system, meaning it requires no electrical power to function. Rather, using the resonance chambers of the speakers and the gramophone-inspired horns, the audio emitted from the HTC One’s Boom Sound dual front-facing speakers is amplified by natural acoustics.

The Gramohorn II is a available in a variety of vivid colors, with the choice of having the speakers printed in a plaster or a metal composite. The two versions are available at a whopping £999 ($1600) and £4999 ($8000) for the wealthier HTC owners.

Wolter’s philosophy behind the Gramohorn’s design is based on the increasing accessibility and diminishing sound quality of digital music. Each Gramohorn is hand-made and finished to order, bringing the intrinsic ‘uniqueness’ and ‘originality’ of art into the sphere of digital audio technology. On a technical level, the Gramohorn somewhat ironically addresses audio compression, in that the loudspeakers can only be as good as the sounds it amplifies. So HTC One users, please make sure you’ve downloaded the lossless versions of your songs before docking into the Gramohorn.

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Flash forward a year when I attended a Hype Machine event that was hosted in conjunction with Sonos and was given two speakers and a bridge, which connects the speakers to a WiFi signal.  Setting it up, I realized that it’s not a plug-in-and-play type of speaker. You have to download the mobile or desktop app, connect the bridge to the router, plug in the speakers, and follow the app’s instructions for a simple installation.

 

The more effort you put in from the start, the smarter and easier the system can be, whether you place the speakers in separate rooms to play different music simultaneously, find your favorite radio stations to broadcast, or sync your various music accounts including Spotify, Hype Machine, or Pandora.

 

With my Sonos set up, I can easily shift between passive (radio or randomized music) or active (specific artist, album or playlist I’ve created) listening, which is very powerful. Plus there’s the bonus of being able to do this from my ease of my phone or computer.

The design aesthetic of the speakers is modern yet vintage, like something that could fit in THX 1138 or a fancy, expensive new gadget Don Draper might buy on Mad Men–it fits their brand and personality well.

All-in-all, Sonos is for the music junkies, people who can’t live without music or those who know the power music has in bringing people together.  Sonos is for those who engage in living room conversations with friends, queuing up a track by an obscure producer on Sonos via the Hype Machine application.

 

Nothing could replace Sonos’ immediacy and ease of use. If you have $200 to spare on a speaker and a bridge, you’ll find yourself ditching the ones you thought were good during freshman year of college.

David is a music and food obsessive.  He works Live Nation by day, but produces Backyard Brunch Sessions for fun and is a board member here at SoundCtrl.

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The launch of Apple’s iOS7, with its minimal design features and maximized screen real estate, urged designers to rethink the user interfaces of the apps we’ve all come to know and use. Aside from the usual, essential social media suspects, many newer apps have taken advantage of this design shift, and have capitalized on the new look and feel that will accompany mobile devices into the future.

MTV’s new Artists app does just that by offering a focused peek into the musicians that influence and inform the music industry today. With MTV’s shift away from dedicated musical programming over the last decade or so, it’s presumable that another venture by the brand would miss the boat on the music industry (there was, in fact, a Snooki app) entirely. But surprisingly, MTV Artists does quite well by crafting a navigable database of artists big and small, popular and obscure, with relatively clean profile pages that can’t afford favoring, given the size of an iPhone screen. 

Each artist’s profile is formatted identically with a simple, but extensive rundown: photos, music videos, a biography, a “years active” timeline, a map locating their hometown, links to share on social media networks, related artists, and links to buy tickets to concerts.

MTV Artists has several search options–you can search for an artist by name, by typing in a lyric, or by holding the phone to a sound source. MTV Artists could be in the running to compete with Shazam or Soundhound for identifying tracks on the go, especially by offering biographies, photos, and a 90-second preview of each artist’s catalog comprising 10 song clips.

You can also browse pre-made collections that are genre-specific or artist-chosen, or search back in your history to recover artists you’ve searched before.

The new app, now available on the App Store, may help MTV regain a foothold amongst music enthusiasts that wouldn’t normally turn to the brand for music discovery.

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By Brian Parker

In just a few years, the traditional, hard-copy artist presskit has transitioned to digital formats, and several companies have tried to streamline, universalize, and monetize the electronic press kit, or EPK. Boston-based Presskit.to has developed an efficient means of minimizing EPKs for artists, with a platform that allows the user to consolidate media, links, and information in a single place.

While this rigidity may be less practical for individual artists in the era of subliminal music marketing and the somewhat “organic” rise to success, Presskit.to is now offering the platform for music businesses to consolidate, promote, and share their managed artists with brands, booking agencies, and other industry contacts. Presskit.to is available as an online application and on iOS as well. 

Presskit.to’s new business function is summed up rather simply: “Manage your content, communicate with your team, standardize your deliverable.” Especially useful for the budding manager or talent agent who needs to stay organized, Presskit’s features allow seamless work between team members within a simplified format. Presskit also offers branding and graphic design for an additional fee. Presskit for Business’s first client, Caroline Distribution, plans on using the platform for the backend of their talent management as well as to create EPK’s for each of their labels.

Visit Presskit.to for pricing plans and more information about their services.

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By Brian Parker

Earlier this year, we covered some of the updates to the FlashFWD award winning music discovery app SoundTracking. Today, after a year of  impressive milestones and development, SoundTracking announced a new version of the app with brand new features, including a fresh user interface and a new “discover” section.

Soundtracking’s new UI is simplified and updated for iOS7 optimization, including updated navigation and new user tab bar, higher quality timeline photos, Brighter accent color themes, new fonts, and new icon action buttons. Top friends are also auto-suggested in search and tagging flows to improve efficiency.

Rather than relying upon just a scrolling stream of music moments, SoundTracking has introduced the humanized and friendly “Discover” section.  The feature includes a variety of new discovery options for users who enjoy finding music from different angles.

• “Song Of The Day” – Each day, the editorial staff picks a new track from an emerging or popular artist that we think has an exciting sound, regardless of genre.

• Search – Find music and other fans simply by typing hashtags such as #nowplaying or #tbt.  This allows people to discover music by evolving topics created by music fans, not just by standard genre categories.

• Trending – Changing by the minute, this feature shows what music moments are popular around the world among the SoundTracking community of music lovers.

• Nearby – Based upon our current location, this section shows you what’s popular in your local area and city.  Learn about new music buzzing in your neighborhood and follow some fellow music lovers.

Since SoundTracking launched in 2011, over 40 million music moments have been shared in the SoundTracking community, with over 530 million views. Over 60% of users have tagged their music moment locations over 1 million times, using the location services powered by Foursquare API and Google Maps API.

You can download the new SoundTracking 4.0 on the iTunes app store.

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By Brian Parker

In stark contrast to major record labels and publishers, the sheet music industry has for the last decade embraced the quick shift to digital media without confronting the issue of piracy. Due in part to the prevalence of the copy machine far before the internet’s rise to ubiquity, and possibly because of the niche supply and demand for scores, the sheet music industry has survived despite a declining market.

Taking cues from this format shift, Sheet Music Direct has launched a new iPad app that brings sheet music to your mobile tablet device with a a cloud-synced library. Sheet Music Direct is a joint venture between the UK-based Music Sales corporation and the US-based music publishing company Hal Leonard, two of the largest sheet music publishers in the world. Their joining forces means the Sheet Music Direct iPad app will feature their extensive catalogs of sheet music and scores, condensed in a well-designed interface.

Sheet Music Direct’s cloud-synced library allows the user to browse through their purchased scores, as well as create set lists for performances that feature several pieces. The score browser can be segmented by new and popular releases, instruments, and genre, and a tag feature supports a wish list function, so tagged scores can be purchased later.

The performance mode, which is surprisingly intuitive, supports tempo changes and transpositions for any score, making arrangements adaptable to each musician.

Sheet Music Direct for iPad represents a positive shift that supports musical literacy in an industry often flanked by uninventive and unmusical production and composition in the mainstream. The functionality of carrying several scores within a single device, without risking the loss of valuable music is efficient and economical. Hopefully the app will grow to offer note margins and uploads of personal compositions for serious students and composers.

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Last week, the new micro-music video app Mindie was launched, creating a new platform for creating and sharing short videos set to song clips. Mindie steps into the mobile world with apps like Instagram, Vine, Snapchat, and the recently launched MixBit, but shifts the video focus to sharing and building communities through music. With an incredibly clean, full-screen interface, Mindie is easy to use and effortless to browse–pick a song from the iTunes database, record a video of short clips, and publish and share your new music video on Twitter, Facebook, and of course, Mindie.

We spoke to co-founder Grégoire Henrion about the concept, functionality, and future of Mindie, and why the app is creating its own space in the world of social media.

SoundCtrl: Can you tell us a bit about Mindie and where you’re from?

Grégoire Henrion: We’re based in Paris. We’re a little startup of four people working on Mindie, and we started working on it about two months ago. The parent company is called Ever.

SC: Do you have other projects under the Ever umbrella?

GH: Ever was a former project, it was our first app but we never really launched it. It was still in beta, then we decided to change the idea to make something simpler and based on music, so we came up Mindie.

SC: So how did the concept of Mindie come about?

GH: The idea of Ever was that you could make albums of photos, notes, and music, and we found that users loved associating music and images. So when we decided to do something simpler, we wanted to do something with music and images– we just had to find the right format. The music idea was perfect, because music videos are popular on YouTube but not widely used in social media.

SC: Are there any competitors or other apps from which you try to differentiate Mindie?

GH: I’m not sure we’re competing with Vine and Instagram because they are based on video sharing, and we are more like music sharing supplemented by video. It’s not the same gesture, it’s not the same thing that happens in your mind when you want to create something. So I don’t think they’re competitors. We are creating our own market that doesn’t really exist yet, but can grow very fast.

SC: It’s great to identify that opening. Do you think of it as a platform to promote artists?

GH: It could, of course, be a very good platform for promoting artists, but the first step is building a community and then seeing exactly what that community is. It’s a great opportunity for artists and brands because music is powerful vector of communication. So we’re definitely thinking about it, but we’re currently testing it on users and trying to see what they are doing with the app.

SC: What platform is the music coming from within the app?

GH: Currently it’s iTunes’ API. They offer a 30 second preview, and we take the first 7 seconds. There’s no violation.

SC: So there’s no copyright issue with that?

GH: No, we have access to iTunes previews, and there is a link to buy the song from the iTunes store. So it’s a closed circuit.

SC: Are you thinking of expanding to other streaming platforms?

GH: There are other possibilities like Rdio’s API, Soundcloud’s API, and Deezer’s API, but we thought about how we could work with those platforms.

SC: It’s amazing how many different interpretations there are of one song, are there ways to rank popularity?

GH: Currently we sort through the videos and tag the coolest ones “Best Mindie.” But later we’re working on a ranking system of popularity to make more possibilities to explore music videos through the app.

SC: Will there be a desktop or online app in the future?

GH: We currently have a web view, but a desktop app is not in our scope currently. We’re a little team so we have to focus on mobile as it’s very difficult to develop for mobile.

SC: The design is very clean, how did the idea for the interface come up?

GH: The idea is to erase the interface–we want it to be immersive and simple. We want people to forget that they’re on an app, and we want the experience to be very simple, like watching TV. So this is why there is no background and most of the interface is full screen images.

SC: What are the future plans for Mindie?

GH: Our app for Android will come in a few months, but right now we’re focused on ways to explore Mindie within the app. We’re also focusing on interactions between the users like sharing and mentions, so that we can really build a community.

The Mindie app is currently available for free on the App Store. 

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By Kira Grunenberg

Music is an incredibly personal medium of expression, so it’s unsurprising that listeners’ tastes are often polarized. We live in an age when our love for and opinions about music are publicly expressed by “likes,” and “favorites,” which consequently goes hand-in-hand with the concept of music discovery.

Music charts have been around for the better part of the last century, lead principally by our friends at Billboard. While these charts have clearly stood the test of time and have made a mark on the industry as a whole, a newcomer to the ranking scene, Upbeat, is hoping to stir up how we interact with these rankings by combining flexible nomination with online-based interaction.

Based in California and launched only three weeks ago, this desktop and forthcoming iOS and Android app is already gaining an excited crowd, filling Upbeat’s database with plenty of cool, lesser-known songs for users to hear and vote on everyday.

The concept of use and browsing is effortlessly easy:

1) Sign up and pick a username.

2) Share SoundCloud tracks of your choice to the database.

3) Designate the song in the genre most appropriate for categorizing.

4) Gain “karma points” as people up-vote your submissions and watch your user number go up as you become a trendsetter and tastemaker!

And that’s the gist behind powering the Upbeat system.

Dig a little deeper into Upbeat, and registered users can personalize their browsing and voting experiences by ranking songs from sub-genres of song pools. A neatly compiled sidebar player includes a Twitter share link and a comment box.  Play counts add additional context when mulling over voting, and Amazon buy links will perhaps boost artists’ sales from within the platform. The main browser column lists songs based on genre qualifiers and shows recent and popular songs as well.

The interface itself is clean, bright, and minimal.  It won’t win any design contests, but since Upbeat is all about forming musical opinions, a flashy appearance would deter from the simplicity of browsing and voting. The link for submitting music is one of the prominent items on the site, which is great, since the top of a page is usually reserved for the most important content and functions. Essentially everything you need to get started on Upbeat is clearly visible, even if you haven’t signed up.

One weakness of Upbeat is a lack of genre options on the home page. Unregistered users only see filters for pop, electronic, urban, rock, and metal, and a sub-genre option is only available once you’ve signed up. Even though the average user might not delve too deeply into categorization, it is surprising that other essential genres like country, rap, or classical would not be included as well, even prior to sub-genre filtering.

The only other rocky element is in the submission process. While Upbeat currently aligns with SoundCloud and assures legality in its service, there seems to be a discrepancy in what are unofficial uploads. After browsing some of the songs, there are in fact some tracks that are clearly not from official band accounts.

Of course, these items are minor and may be evaluated and adjusted by Upbeat as the platform grows. What Upbeat presently offers certainly stands to compete with other voter-powered sites, and it never hurts to have another brand shining a light on artists outside of the mainstream.

You can sign up to start voting for music on Upbeat now, via their official app page, as well as Like their official Facebook page, follow their blog on Tumblr and/or follow them on Twitter too.

Kira is an old school music nerd with a love for all things creative; always searching for music’s common ground. She graduated with an M.A. in Performing Arts Administration from New York University. Drop her a tweet @shadowmelody1

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By Brian Parker

Microsoft and Indaba Music have teamed up for the Surface Remix Project, promoting both Microsoft’s newly released Surface 2 and Surface Pro and Indaba’s successful contest platform. Surface is Microsoft’s customizable tablet device, which allows users to “click” in different covers that function as type keyboards or touch pads. For the Surface Remix Project, Microsoft has introduced a new remixing application of the same name, as well as the Music Kit, which includes a cover specially made for music production.

The Surface Remix Project comes loaded with a song library powered by Indaba and XBox Music, including pop hits, classic songs, and music from the Indaba community. The Music Kit allows producers to remix on the go, with a backlit touch pad, mixer controls including a transport panel, and an 8×8 pad that will likely support triggering and drum sequencing.

The Remix Project also eases up the production process by automatically syncing BPMs and matching keys between songs with different tempos and keys. The application offers suggestions for sounds and samples that pair well together, making this an attractive deal for the entry-level market.

Microsoft isn’t taking a swing at pro-audio, but by giving away free Surface tablets and Music Kits to producers that submit worthy tunes, they’ll get their grab-and-go hard and software in the hands of eager young producers.

You can enter the contest via Microsoft’s website for a chance to win a free Surface tablet.

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by Dave Mainella

All-in-one ticketing app WillCall announced its version 2.1 release today.  WillCall aims to simplify the ticketing process by curating a list of shows and providing an easy platform for ticket purchases.

Previously, we wrote about WillCall’s latest round of funding and interviewed WillCall co-founder and CEO Donnie Dinch, who elaborated on the product and the company’s investment partners.

The funding was put to quick use, as version 2.1 adds a new dimension: gifts.  “Like most of the concert-going public,” Dinch says of the new release, “we were tired of not having an easy way to give tickets to friends before a show. So we built one.”  WillCall 2.1 means anyone can gift a ticket to anyone else directly through the app.

After purchasing tickets to any WillCall show, a user sends tickets to anyone they want with just a tap.  The exuberant friend automatically receives the tickets and optional message.

WillCall is celebrating the release by gifting tickets for an exclusive pop-up show to over 300 loyal WillCall users.  The app is available for both iOS and Android.

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By Brian Parker

After developing a faithful software reproduction of the Oberheim Synthesizer Expander Module (SEM), Arturia have released iSEM, an iPad version of the same synthesizer. Arturia are known for making high-quality replicas of analog synthesizers, and have now brought their proprietary design to iOS.

iSEM was built using Arturia’s True Analog Emulation technology, which “accurately reproduces, tone, waveshape, tuning and other detailed characteristics of an analog synthesizer” to create emulations of rare, classic synthesizers. The recreation of the legendary Oberheim synth comes with some added bonuses, including WIST clocking support for the addition of multiple iPads, file sharing via iTunes and email, an extensive, accurate sound bank, and support for CoreMIDI and AudioBus for use of iSEM in other audio applications.

The powerful app is now available on the iTunes store for $9.99.

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By Dave Mainella

Vine gives you your 6 seconds of visual fame.  And Instagram recently launched competing video functionality.  But JamCam brings music into the equation.

JamCam, designed by 23-year-old Matt Loszak and available for iOS, allows users to create 15-second videos without interrupting the song already playing on their iPhone.  In fact, it pulls the song into the app, creating a soundtrack that matches perfectly.  Running with the mantra “record video, but don’t stop the music”, JamCam aims to facilitate the creation of short music videos inspired by both the visual and audial moments.

Functionality is actually somewhat of a mix between Vine and Instagram.  Users can edit video by tying individual shots together, and the song playing is automatically brought in based on the same rhythm of edits.  The culmination is a 15-second masterpiece.  The time limit is significant; video (with soundtrack) can be shared to Facebook, Twitter, and, of course, Instagram.

We had a chance to talk with Matt Loszak about JamCam, its position in a the video-app space, and what to expect as the young app looks to establish itself in the music tech world.

 …………………………………………

SoundCtrl: What was the inspiration behind JamCam?

Matt Loszak: I had the idea for JamCam while on a road trip with some friends. We were driving down a beautiful country road in Australia, and the music just seemed to match the moment perfectly. I opened up the iPhone’s camera app, but since the music was also coming from my phone, the music stopped! After a few weeks of thinking and planning, JamCam was born out of that frustration.

SC: You are the sole creator and developer.  Is it a one-man show, and if so, will that change?

ML: For now, it’s just me. I do have big plans for JamCam, so when the time comes that I can’t keep up with the workload involved, I’ll bring other people on board. But while JamCam is young, I plan on keeping complete control of the product and its direction.

SC: How long have you been developing JamCam?  Was this reactionary to the Instagram and Vine video space?

ML: I started developing JamCam at the start of August of this year, and it hit the App Store near the end of September. I had to do a fair amount of research into audio sessions with Apple’s SDK in order to accomplish what I wanted – it turned out that no other app (that I could find) actually didn’t interrupt the audio when opening a camera session. In the end I figured it out!

I was pleased to see that Instagram enabled video upload from the camera roll in early August, which was very timely. Vine was definitely a big inspiration in the shooting method (pause and resume). The difference at the moment is that JamCam is a tool first, and a sharing utility second — Instagram and Vine are social networks first and capturing tools second.

SC: I’ve read that the JamCam app works only with DRM-unlocked songs.  Other than that, are there any other song limitations?  Were there any licensing or copyright issues?

ML: The only other limitation that I can think of is songs that are in iCloud, but have not yet been downloaded to the device will not work. The reason for this is that JamCam uses the raw audio file with your video, so if it’s in the cloud (and not on the device), Apple doesn’t give other apps access to it.

As for copyright issues, JamCam essentially accomplishes the same type of thing as iMovie (or other video editing software), in that you can add audio to video. The difference is that JamCam does it in one step, and lets you hear the music you’re grooving out to while you’re shooting the video.

SC: Do you expect JamCam to gain traction as a stand-alone app?  Are Instagram and Vine your competition?  Or do you view JamCam as a tributary to those video social media outlets?

ML: For now JamCam is in many ways a tributary, but I expect that to change. The initial interest in JamCam was much greater than I expected – it really seems like something people have either been waiting for, or didn’t realize they even wanted (but now do). It went viral on Reddit the day after it came out, reaching the #1 spot in the iPhone category! So I think it has potential to be a standalone app, but it needs some attention to the community side.

SC: You also created Vibrauto, a music discovery website.  Did that project influence the development of JamCam at all?

ML: Yes and No – I’ve been very interested in the intersection of music and tech for a while now, and have been experimenting with different ideas. I think what’s interesting about JamCam is that it has potential to be a real force for discovery in addition to creativity. For me (and probably many others), music is very much tied to experience. This could mean situations, emotions or otherwise. Browsing a JamCam community of music videos could be a powerful way to find songs that might not have appealed or made sense to you otherwise.

SC: JamCam launched just a few ago, but what can we expect moving forward?

ML: I alluded to it before, but I definitely see JamCam going the community route. Whereas Vine, Instagram and others are based around browsing a network of people and their creations, I envision JamCam being centered around the songs themselves. Imagine browsing JamCam by song, where each song would have its own crowd sourced music video that could even be different each time you watch it (pulling videos from different users). This also has great potential for helping artists fuel discovery and engagement, so I plan on partnering up with some talent in that way in the future!

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