By Simon Brown, Publishing Manager at Lemoncake.com

When you hear a catchy tune or song on an advertisement, you rarely forget that product. Whether or not the product is something that interests you specifically, a track that plays into your emotions will make for a memorable ad. Carefully selected music attracts the audience and contributes to the entertainment factor, as well as ensuring an ad lives on in ones memory beyond its 30-second length. Tying music together with the narrative of an ad will help to create something truly special. If it is successful, viewers will be left humming the jingle, with the brand’s information and slogan well and truly drummed into their memories.

British retailer John Lewis’s marketing team is renowned for getting their advertisements exactly right, and their music choices for Christmas advertisements never fail to impress. In 2010, Ellie Goulding’s version of ‘Your Song’ complemented a heartwarming piece about sneaking presents past loved ones, attempting to giftwrap awkwardly shaped items, and hanging stockings out for pets. More recently, Gabrielle Aplin’s cover of ‘The Power of Love’ beautifully accompanied a snowman’s search for the perfect present, and also topped the Singles Chart. 2013 sees the return of Lily Allen covering Keane’s ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ in an emotionally charged ad titled ‘The Bear & The Hare’.

Whether it’s a gorilla smashing a drum kit to Phil Collins or a Pavarotti parody, memorable tunes are ideal in accompanying the visuals in ads. From iconic rock songs, to 70s anthems, or simply a price comparison site with a ridiculously irritating jingle, advertising music proves hugely influential time and time again.

So how do you choose the right music for your advert?

Deciding on an appropriate track for your advert can be challenging and time consuming, not forgetting the added expense and process of  using copyrighted tracks or new commissions. Check out a few of our simple steps to help you get ahead in finding the right track and making your advert a success.

1. Consider your audience: Who is the product aimed at? Ensuring the music appeals to the viewers will contribute to the advert’s success.

2. Choose a genre: By considering a variety of genres and subgenres, you are sure to find a style that best suits your advertisement.

3. Match the tempo: Coordinate a fast beat to a quick paced video, and make sure a more relaxed advert is complemented by a slower tempo.

4. Convey the mood: Whether its happiness or melancholy, choose music that evokes the same emotion as your advert.

5. Represent your product: Ensure the music is an audio portrayal of the video, so choose something intense for a serious product, and match chilled-out music to something lighthearted.

6. Coordinate with the video: Whether your advert is simple or elaborate, make sure the music maintains the structure and theme.

7. Finalize the advert: By taking the simple but key decisions above you should be closer to knowing the style and feel of music you wish to use – so go ahead, put it together and enjoy!

If choosing the right track is still proving to be challenging and costly, a music production library might be the right choice. Lemoncake.com is a new production music library and publisher featuring innovative search options to help find the perfect track for your advert. Unlike other production music libraries, the music is free at the point of use, removing frustrating financial restrictions.

What’s your favourite advertising music of all time? Get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

Simon Brown is the Publishing Manager at Lemoncake.com, a revolutionary music production library and publisher. Visit www.lemoncake.com to learn more about it. 

The post Guest Post: Choosing Music For Your Ads appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Kira Grunenberg

The avatar-based DJ service Turntable.fm has taken quite a journey. Introduced to the market as one of the most hyped music startups of mid-2011, the company has since struggled to stay relevant. Now, the startup is adjusting how it taps into live & social with an elaborate re-launch: Turntable Live.

Turntable Live provides affordable, engaging, high-quality access to live music. The company makes a big bet on social, introducing smart, engaging elements that help break the screen barrier between artists and viewers. The expected inclusion of chat, tweets and photos are commonplace, but Turntable Live also allows the band to see their fans, making the experience more dynamic for everyone. The added luxury of a detailed list of viewers and their contributions can provide artists with great opportunities for post-show insight and interaction.

The team at Turntable HQ in Soho, New York personally creates and launches each show page through which tickets are sold. Artists set a goal and if enough digital tickets are sold, the show is on. The logistics of putting on the show are low stress for bands as well. After tickets get sold, the group just shows up at the Turntable office and all audio/video equipment is provided. Icing on the cake? Artists receive 70% gross revenue return.

Right now, the company has four scheduled shows held in conjunction with the also newly launched CBGB Festival in NYC, which started this past Tuesday and continues through Sunday, the 13^th.

We sat down with Billy Chasen, Co-Founder of Turntable.fm, to talk about this new transformation and where they’re headed.

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SoundCtrl: What was the primary motivation for this relaunch?

Billy Chasen: One of the most exciting parts of turntable.fm has been when artists stop by rooms and hang out with fans. Fans love it and artists feel more connected from it.

But turntable.fm was never a product with live audio or video. We wanted to reimagine live performances online and bring something that connects both fans and artists without being at the same physical location. Something 2-way, expressive and highly engaging. We also wanted to build something that helps artists. Now that artists are touring as their main source of income, we wanted to give them a platform to reach more of their fans.

SC: What brought the Turntable team together with the CBGB Festival?

BC: CBGB is a NYC icon and we’re just a few blocks away from its original location. They were also intrigued by what we’re doing, so everything fit together perfectly.

SC: How has the reception and participation been for the first few shows during the CBGB Festival thus far? Is there a trend already visible for how fans are choosing to engage while listening?

BC: Yesterday was actually our very first show! We had several test shows over the last couple months, but our first public one was last night and it was a great time.

SC: A major strength I see with Turntable Live is the extra attention paid to social connection – the two-way mirror for instance. How does that feature help to bridge the digital gap?

BC: Nothing can replace being physically together with someone else. Skype is the next best thing you can do when apart from someone. It’s the same thing with concerts. It’s not just TV. People want more. People can send photos, ask questions, and talk back to the artist.

SC: Right now you stream all performances from your NYC HQ. Do you plan on eventually expanding to other music-heavy epicenters?

BC: Absolutely. This is our first studio set up, but the goal is to open them up wherever artists are.

SC: In addition to digital tickets, is there any interest in allowing a limited number of people to attend performances in real life at Turntable HQ?

BC: We’ve thought about that and it’s definitely a possibility. I think it would be more up to the artist.

SC: How does Turntable Live scale up? Bigger artists? Bigger venues? Bigger audiences?

BC: We’ve learned a lot from scaling turntable.fm and brought that to building Turntable Live. The key will be having people love the experience and that in turn will bring more people and bigger artists.

SC: If you could have any artists on Turntable Live, who would it be and why?

BC: LCD Soundsystem with secret guest star Daft Punk, playing at our house.

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

The post [Interview] Billy Chasen, Co-Founder of Turntable.fm, Discusses Turntable Live appeared first on SoundCtrl.

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.

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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!

The post [Interview] Matt Loszak, Founder of JamCam appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Dave Mainella

Those in attendance at last Tuesday’s SF MusicTech Summit were treated to a full day of thoughtful events and discussions from some of the brightest and most forward-thinking in the industry.  SoundCtrl Co-Founder, Jesse Kirshbaum, had the opportunity to lead a conversation and Q&A with Funkmaster Flex, the legendary DJ and producer on the leading edge of radio and digital.

Funkmaster Flex has a full and diverse resume, as one of the premier radio DJs for the last 20 years and as someone who’s turned the art of radio DJing into a successful digital brand – with a website that attracts over a million unique visitors and an app attracting 16 million page views a day.

The two discussed the evolution of radio, DJing and the “mix-tape”, and finding and playing new music, in a 20-minute conversation spanning the history of hip hop.

Talking with Kirshbaum about his early days at Hot 97 and in New York’s hip hop scene, Flex offered a unique perspective on the lineage of the genre.  Flex mentioned the 90′s in particular as a turning point for the music.  “The 90′s were key,” he said, “because it was a period where we thought hip hop might go away.  We didn’t know it was going to be mainstream, but it was getting more ears, more eyes.”

Kirshbaum recognized that Flex has the top rated radio show in all of terrestrial radio, to which the joking and humble DJ replied, “I’m number 1 by far.  But you know, I’m probably one of the few DJs around the country still allowed to pick their own music and records, and that’s something that I’ve never abused.”

Before taking questions from the attentive audience, Kirshbaum asked Flex’s opinion on developments in the music tech space.  The DJ targeted streaming music services as both a drawback and an opportunity for the evolution of a different kind of radio.

“There are a lot of good streaming services for the hits,” Flex explained.  “But I would like to see a lot of these streaming services try to really be radio.  They’re going to have to break artists.  And they’re going to have break music.  And they’re going to have to break talent.  I think where it’s going to go.  You’ll go to a streaming service and hear the hits, something new, and something unsigned all in the same place.”

Visit www.inflexwetrust.com

The post Recap: Funkmaster Flex at the SF MusicTech Summit appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Carolyn Heneghan

We all know what happens when light hits a crystal. The light is refracted and dances about, creating a visually pleasing physical reaction. Now what happens if you introduce colored LEDs, a wealth of crystal-simulated mirrors and electronic dance music courtesy of female producer-and-vocals duo Krewella? 2013 FlashFWD honoree for Best in Live and leading visual arts studio, V Squared Labs presents: the Volcano.

VJ and founder of V Squared Labs, Vello Virkhaus and lead designer Amanda Hamilton teamed up with fabricator and technical engineer Stefano Novelli to create this architectural masterpiece using reflection mapping to create the synthesized crystalline structure. At 30 feet by 18 feet, the Volcano superstructure is destined to travel to more than 50 venues across North America, acting as a visionary centerpiece for each explosive show.

Making of The Krewella Volcano from V Squared Labs Inc. on Vimeo.

This “Sketch to Stage” video features different chapters of what went on behind the scenes to make the superstructure a reality. “Design” features some of the original sketches and schematics of the Volcano in its early stages. “Fabrication” shows the incredible amount of effort that went into creating the structure itself, from constructing the framework and skeleton to manufacturing the crystals and light panels. “Building” demonstrates the assembly of each piece of crystal structure and the software that brings the Volcano to life. In “Rehearsal,” Krewella comes in to get a feel for the structure and rehearse their routine coordinated with the Volcano itself. The final chapter shows the duo performing live in Austin, TX, using their new and improved light show.

We had the pleasure of interviewing V Squared Labs’ Amanda Hamilton, the lead designer for the Volcano project, to learn more about what went on behind the scenes and what fans can expect from this state-of-the-art piece of lighting, made especially for Krewella.

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SoundCtrl: How was the idea for the Volcano inspired? Was there a specific moment or event that triggered it?

Amanda Hamilton: The inspiration came from Krewella’s Play Hard cover art, which depicts a crystalline explosion. Creating a volcano of exploding crystals became the premise of the design, so from there I studied the mechanics of crystal growth and their formation in nature. The mirrors as a material choice were to enhance the crystalline quality, and their explosive formation focuses your eye on the performers in the center. The crisp definition between the lighting effects outlines the separation of the crystal outgrowth from rocky cluster, and the LED screen acts as an overall environment and light source for the form.

SC: What was the process like transforming the Volcano from ideas to pen and paper and then to a physical centerpiece?

AH: So amazing. As an artist, having a client come to you with the idea of a “crystal volcano” is pretty exciting in itself. After discussing the circulation of the performers and necessary aspects of functionality, it was all form-making and light effects from there. Taking basic material ideas into physical experiments was the most fun, and getting to execute it at an even larger scale was a dream come true.

SC: What do you think is the most innovative and/or impressive aspect of the Volcano’s design?

AH: I think the complexity we achieved through very simple principles. Once we had a mock-up crystal made, we were able to grasp the light potential. There were minimal facets, and we tested it with just a few lights. After seeing the amazing effects on a small scale, we knew that a larger scale was going to produce even more intricate results.

SC: How did you make this massive structure portable for use on the Krewella tour?

AH: I worked with our fabricator, Stefano Novelli, on this aspect of the project. I knew the different configurations that the client desired, so I broke the crystals up into pieces that were small enough to transport while still making sure that the seams were corresponding with the configurations. Stefano made sure every joint and connection was feasible for a tour and simple and quick to assemble.

SC: How exactly will Krewella be interacting with the Volcano, or how will the Volcano interact with the music?

AH: The crystals hide various sets of stairs and platforms that they are able to move around and perform on. This allows them to look like they exist within pieces of the volcano itself. The exploding form is based around a central point which is also where their DJ booth sits. This is meant to draw the viewer’s eye directly to them. The different lighting effects inside and outside the volcano are all programmed with specific looks and colors based on Krewella’s set. Our VJ, LD and the music itself are responsible for the speed and rhythm of these effects.

SC: What reaction do you hope to get from fans who see and experience the Volcano live?

AH: I hope that it takes the music and performance to the next level. The entire structure is meant to enhance the music and aid the performers in creating the experience they’ve always dreamed of. Their fan base is so strong already, so in a way this gives back to the fans who have stuck out Krewella’s performances with no visuals whatsoever.

SC: Do you envision any updates or changes you might make to the Volcano either throughout the tour or after?

AH: We would love to expand upon the Volcano for future tours, maybe adding more pieces and platforms throughout.

SC: How do you plan to use the Volcano once the tour is finished?

AH: It is Krewella’s to keep! We only wish we could keep it here at the lab.

“My team at V Squared Labs and I are always pushing the envelope with existing technology to generate new forms of experiential visual art. The Volcano is our next experimental design integrating lighting, reflection mapping and sculptural form. We are very excited to bring the audience along on this amazing musical and visual journey.” – Vello Virkhaus, Founder of V Squared Labs

The post [Interview] With Their Stunning Crystallized Volcano, Krewella Hopes to Blow Fans’ Minds appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Brian Parker

After surprising success in the music industry, the founders of competitive social media platform WomStreet are geared to launch their new, music-focused Spotlight.fm. Spotlight.fm will host competitions by musicians and labels, in which artists will submit their songs and remixes to earn spots on tours, features on albums, and gain exposure with a new base of engaged music enthusiasts. Artists will create free profiles that allow for easy submissions when new opportunities arise on the site. Using WomStreet’s “active-user” platform, fans interact with the hosts, competing artists, and other members of the Spotlight community by voting in contests and sharing their votes via social media channels.

Ahead of the October 1st launch date, SoundCtrl spoke with Spotlight.fm’s Head of Business Development, Taylor J. Winum. We spoke to Winum about the concept behind Spotlight, the user interface and technology, as well as the scope of the company’s growth moving forward.

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SoundCTRL: What types of contest opportunities will be offered on Spotlight.fm?

Taylor Winum: Spotlight.fm is actually the new comprehensive music-focused version of our previous platform, Womstreet, which gained over 70k users in just over a year. Womstreet was meant to be used for small brands and unexpectedly gained significant traction in the music sphere. Spotlight.fm will offer a multitude of competitive opportunities for artists and fans across the country, and eventually internationally. Artists will create profiles to submit original songs or remix stems of popular tracks to earn opening slots at shows and gain exposure through premier musicians and labels. Headlining artists can virally market entire tours by offering local artists the chance to open shows at each stop. The platform will also offer active fans the chance to win free passes to shows and festivals just for offering their opinions.

SC: Are the contests/competitions based on votes, and if so what is the process to vote?

TW: The way in which contests operate is up to each individual opportunity host. They will have the option to select winners using fan voting or no voting. If the host choses to utilize fan voting, they will have the option to pick winners from the top 5,10,15, or 20 most voted. These opportunities are not meant to be popularity contests–rather, voting helps promote the event, brand, or song across social media and provides a mere indication of each artist’s following. If the host choses to use voting, they will also afford a pair of free tickets to a randomly selected voter in their contest. This ensures that both artists and fans are being rewarded for their submissions and input.

SC: How does spotlight differ from a contest site like Indaba Music or SonicBids?

TW: First off, Spotlight is free to the contest host, the competing artist and the fans. We want everyone to use this and we feel charging fees only inhibits the overall growth of our network. We will make money on the backend of the platform through sponsorships, ticket sales, and content licensing. Additionally, contest hosts will be able to access premium features like detailed analytics and embeddable content widgets.

Spotlight will also become a database of emerging artists, songs (like SoundCloud), and music businesses. All of our content will be indexed and our homepage will showcase the most successful artists and tracks. All of this data is very valuable and will assist talent agencies in gaining a competitive edge by identifying trending artists.

Spotlight will also be hosting it’s own user-generated events across the country to popularize the concept of invigorating local music communities.

SC: What are the criteria for a contest or competition that can be hosted on Spotlight?

TW: The whole idea behind Spotlight is giving artists and fans in each music community a voice in their digital and live music experiences. We want to bridge the gap between talent discovery and the rate at which music is produced in a digital society. So the only criteria for hosting contests is that it needs to offer legitimate opportunities for artists and fans. These competitive opportunities are really only limited to the creativity of the host creating them.

SC: Will Spotlight contests be limited to major label artists? Is there any affiliation an artist needs to hold a remix contest for one of their own songs, for example?

TW: Spotlight is a completely self-service and user-generated platform. This means that anyone can host a contest as long as they’re trying to create positive opportunities. We want to give anyone the tools to become a promoter simply by using our platform.

SC: Are there separate access points and features for fans and artists, or will everyone use the same interface?

TW: Fans can simply login with their Facebook or create a quick Fan account with an email and password. Artists need to create a profile with general info about themselves and their music. Then when they upload their submissions to opportunities, these songs will appear on their profile and include information regarding the submissions, plays, “hearts”, and downloads.

SC: Will Spotlight integrate streaming music platforms (like SoundCloud, Spotify) or have proprietary technology for its artist profiles?

TW: Behind the scenes, Spotlight uses similar technologies as SoundCloud and Spotify but we’ve created our own design and functionality to ensure that we provide the experience we want for our users.

SC: Will Spotlight have iPhone and iPad apps?

TW: We are currently working on a comprehensive app that will maintain most of the functionality of the website. It will also include a Spotlight.fm radio that will shuffle through songs on the site by analyzing your personal taste in music. It will be a great way to discover new music from emerging talent all across the globe.

SC: Do you see Spotlight expanding into other branches of entertainment and the arts, such as film, dance, visual arts, etc.?

TW: Of course, we want to provide opportunity to everyone in the arts. As we build the technology and strengthen our relationships within the industry, we will continue to evolve.

The post Spotlight.fm Helps Artists Earn Placement on Tours, Features on Albums and Much More… appeared first on SoundCtrl.

by Dave Mainella

Last week, music streaming service and 2013 FlashFWD winner of Best in Discovery, Songza, announced a successful round of equity financing to the tune of $4.7 million.  Among the many investors are two additional FlashFWD honorees – Troy Carter and Scooter Braun – both of whom were recipients of the FlashFWD SoundWAV Award.

Songza is gaining significant traction since the 2012 launch of its Music Concierge feature that emphasizes situational listening.  The company is quickly shaping up to be a leading lifestyle-enhancement music streaming service, where music and playlists facilitate moods and situations.  Songza hopes to similarly bring personal and curated brands to the listening audience through non-disruptive native advertising.

We had the opportunity to talk with Songza co-founder and CCO Eric Davich about the recent financing, native advertising, and the musical curation of our everyday lives.

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SoundCtrl: Native advertising is meant to incorporate brands into the musical experience of a user’s daily routine.  Can you describe how this advertising will continue to enhance the lifestyle of the listening audience?

Eric Davich: Everything we do on Songza is aimed at making what you’re doing right now better. With Sponsored Moments, our new native advertising solution, we are providing brands with the capability to tap into the personal, trusted connection we have with our users in order to provide contextually relevant experiences at the right place and the right time. So far we’ve worked with brands like Taco Bell and Samsung to provide the Songza audience with great experiences for “Getting Hyped” and “Going Back to College,” and as we continue to integrate more partners you can expect to see brands providing valuable experiences for every moment from everyday situations like “Drinking Gourmet Coffee,” and “Working Out,” to quirky, aspirational scenarios like “Saving the World” and “Quitting Your Job.” In all these cases, we work closely with brands to tell their story with the personality and human touch that Songza users have come to expect from our team of expert curators.

SC: This round of financing include investments by Lady Gaga manager Troy Carter and Justin Beieber manager Scooter Braun.  Will these industry experts help to move Songza forward in any way beyond just the financials?

ED: Our investors and advisors have been extremely valuable mentors and partners. Their passion for our product and our team has been an invaluable resource in growing and scaling every aspect of our business and will continue to be especially important in evolving the ways that we continue to innovate, grow, and monetize our platform. We’ve already had the pleasure of working directly with Atom Factory, Scooter Braun, William Morris Endeavor, and their clients in order to provide great experiences for both their fans as well as the Songza community as a whole.

SC: How will this round of funding directly affect the implementation of native advertising?

ED: We’re a small team (currently 28) with limited resources, so it’s that we continue to add more all-stars to our roster as we grow. This new round of funding will help us add to grow our already amazing team with key engineering, sales, editorial and marketing hires so that we can continue to innovate and improve the user

experience while dedicating a great deal of attention to our clients and business partners.

SC: Songza successfully curates music, and curating advertisements seems to be a logical extension of that.  Does Songza take an active roll in seeking out advertisers to best fit the many moods and experiences of its playlists? 

ED: Absolutely. In the digital age, consumers have become increasingly savvy and immune towards traditional advertisements. In order for brands to actually reach consumers in a meaningful way, they need to contextualize their message in a way that relates to the consumer’s context – not just who they are and where they’re from, but also what they’re actually doing at that very moment. An athletic apparel brand, for instance, has a lot of valuable products to provide to

consumers when they’re “Working Out,” but a consumer will be less receptive to purchasing sportswear at a moment when it’s not relevant like “Bedtime” or “A Fun Cocktail Party.”

SC: Do you hope native advertising will cause users to be more forgiving of ads during Songza’s free music listening experience?

ED: We don’t think that users hate ads, rather they hate ads that are irrelevant to them as individuals. The beauty of Songza’s native advertising solution is that it provides new forms of branded experiences, but also allows brands to better target their traditional ad units in a much more powerful and relevant way at a place and time in which a consumer will be most receptive to the brand’s message. Collaborating with brands on this type of content that’s both native to the platform as well as the user experience helps us better improve every possible moment of our users’ lives.

SC: You’ve announced brands such as Samsung, Nissan, Taco Bell, and Victoria’s Secret PINK as early adapters of the native advertising platform.  Is there now a proven record of greater advertising success over traditional, and potentially more intrusive, advertising?

ED: We’ve had great success so far. With the first native campaigns we’ve done, we’re measuring user engagement with brands not only in terms of clicks and impressions, but also in terms of days spent with brands and users that save branded playlists as one of their favorites. In all the examples you mentioned, these brands have also seen an increase in users that are explicitly broadcasting their brand story and message through social networks as well as frictionless sharing via our deep integration with Facebook’s timeline.

SC: In addition to native advertising, Songza also offers brands options like Pre-Roll Video and Type-In ads.  Do you expect to see a shift in advertising preference from those traditional models to the more integrated native advertising?

ED: The pre-roll video and branded captchas that we’ve recently integrated are great, high impact units that allow us to monetize in a way that doesn’t have to interrupt the user experience in the middle of their listening session. It also makes the relationship between advertisers and consumers very clear in that completing a captcha or watching a video ‘unlocks’ commercial free listening.

Furthermore, we’ve been able to leverage these types of ads to complement our native campaigns to present a high impact ad when a user has opted in to a branded experience. With Taco Bell, for instance, if you opt in to their experience for “Getting Hyped” and click through to listen to their “Hyped All Day” playlist, you’ll see a short video pre-roll that showcases their new Fiery Doritos Locos Taco before you begin listening. This enables brands to provide first a useful tool with the experience in the Concierge followed by a point of purchase. In other words, we think brands will be more successful if they flirt with you before asking for your number.

The post [Interview] Eric Davich, Co-Founder & CCO of Songza appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Jerell Tongson

On Tuesday, September 17^th, a new image-based music streaming app called Moodsnap will make its debut on the iTunes app store. Using the expansive Spotify library and The Echo Nest’s data algorithms, Moodsnap allows users to listen to curated music stations based on collections of images.  Music selections are crowd sourced, collaboratively chosen and tailored to the tastes of individual users.  The target goal is an “instinct-driven experience designed for music fans who are overwhelmed by choice in today’s digital world.”

Recently named a “Notable Startup” by the SF Musictech Summit in 2013, we spoke Founder & CEO David Blutenthal in advance of the launch this week.

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SoundCtrl : Where did the idea for Moodsnap come from?

David Blutenthal: My team and I were inspired to capture those very human musical attributes in order to deliver a listening experience that makes a person feel known and understood. What’s missing from today’s music apps is the perfect balance between contextual relevance, trusted curation, and simplicity through intuitive design. Our mission with Moodsnap ™ is to deliver on all three.

Our idea to categorize music stations by images stemmed from psychological research on the power that visual imagery has on emotion and decision-making, coupled with implicit knowledge and what we saw in the music and photo app marketplaces as both lacking and trending. By displaying a spectrum of life’s emotions not in words, but in photographs, Moodsnap ™ allows users to FEEL what they want to hear, rather than search through exhaustive and often un-relatable text-based categories. This intuitive experience is designed for music fans who feel overwhelmed by choice in today’s digital world, providing more time to simply live in the moment.

SC : How do you envision people utilizing Moodsnap in their daily lives?

DB : At a fundamental level, we envision people utilizing Moodsnap in a very instinct-driven way, to quickly find music that resonates with them in a particular context or moment, which is another way to say, to match “how they feel or what they’re doing”. Say for example, you’re leaving the office at the end of a hard day. Maybe you want to listen to something that will make you feel better, or perhaps feel relaxed, or yet again maybe feel like sulking in your frustration for a little while. You need some tunes that empathize with that. That user would instinctively choose a photo that resonates at that moment. Maybe it’s a picture of someone chilling out on an idyllic beach drinking a beer, maybe it’s someone pulling their hair out with frustration. In just one tap, the tunes start flowing.

SC : Does the Moodsnap team initially form a foundation of “beach songs” or “starry night” that users can alter through their usage? What informs those decisions?

DB : When a new Moodsnap station is created, our internal team along with a small hand picked group of curators, creates the initial foundation of music for that station, drawing from a variety of genres. 30-40 songs or so. Since all of the music associated with each image is hand picked, we need to seed users with something so they can tap and play without repeating songs, or without hitting a dead end.

Our hope is that contributors quickly latch on and add a diverse array of music that fits that photograph in some way. The process is truly one of human curation at scale, which is then sorted programmatically by energy (using Echo Nest APIs), and finally filtered dynamically to our understanding of each listeners taste. Since subjectivity and personal taste on the music contributor side plays a great role here, the delivery algorithm for listening has to be on point.

SC : Has anything surprised you from beta testing?

DB : Most definitely. One is that people see different things in a photo based on their perspective, life experience, gender, or otherwise.  For example, we have this one Moodsnap station of a man in a gay pride parade. It’s bright, colorful and feels very celebratory.  Depending on a particular user’s life experience and knowledge of what a pride parade looks like, some see Brazilian Carnivale, some see Mardi Gras, some see a Pride Parade, while others just see the expression of happiness and joy that exudes from the man’s face.  Compared to other photos that are much more specific to a universal theme, and are less ambiguous, the music we’re seeing being contributed to the “parade” station mirrors that ambiguity…think of songs ranging form George Michael to Seu Jorge to Dr. John.

We decided to keep the station in there for the launch so we can learn more from people. Ultimately we’re learning what rules govern a great Moodsnap station so that people’s listening experiences match their expectations based on a shared perception.

SC : What led to your decisions to use the Echo Nest and Spotify API? Are there plans for expansion past premium Spotify users into other streaming platforms?

DB : Regarding Spotify ®, in addition to that we’re all huge fans and users of the platform, they provide developers with an amazing set of API tools, which allowed us in an agile manner to build this differentiated interactive experience, and under a low cost structure…. In terms of available market size, Spotify has a largest international market share of subscribers among the on-demand streaming services for which we could position Moodsnap as a free value-add.

[Also], it was important to us that Moodsnap support the artists whose music makes our app possible, and there is simply no way we could have built a legally sanctioned version of Moodsnap without leveraging a platform such a Spotify.

The Echo Nest is doing amazing things for the next generation of music consumption, discovery, and delivery products and services. They are truly mastering the art of big data music intelligence. Like Spotify, they provide developers (like us) access to non-commercial use APIs, allowing us to sort music intelligently based on a number of parameters. We view The Echo Nest as a long-term partner as we continue to scale and grow into revenue generating business.

On the expansion note, we see the whole picture concerning options and reasons to expand to other music and mobile platforms, but for now we’re taking things a step at a time.  It’s logical that upon early success, an Android version will soon follow, and we are also looking into creating a tangential “lite version”, which we could offer to a broader userbase, that would be limited in features but still offer the core of Moodsnap’s image-based and instinct-driven experience.

SC : There has been a recent surge of popularity behind image/video based apps – Instagram & Vine being the most prominent. How do you see Moodsnap mingling with these types of services? Do they compete or amplify each other?

DB: Excellent question. We see ourselves as a joint value-creating player in the photo-sharing ecosystem, that can leverage these apps’ distinctive competencies in order to co-mingle, and thus amplify the experiences for our respective users. We are open to discussing creative options that complement other services, whether through strategic partnerships, cross-promotional campaigns, or API integration, with goals to build economic and social value in our shared ecosystem.

SC : Down the line, how do you foresee monetizing Moodsnap?

DB: Our strategy is to take a validated learning approach toward minimizing product-market risk at each stage of the venture’s development in order to meet business goals. The first stage of Moodsnap’s business strategy is to ensure that users are adopting the product as a lifestyle enhancer and that we’re seeing increased traction based on inherent viral factors. Having a strong demand-pull is crucial. Monetization will be a result of reaching significant scale, and we have a roadmap for revenues to eventually come from both from B2B and B2C opportunities.

SC : If you could see any artist picking up Moodsnap, who would it be and why?

DB : We will all see soon but I feel up-and-coming artists particularly have a lot to gain by exposing new people to their music, based on the context they want those songs to be heard.  New York based singer/songwriter Amber Rubarth comes to mind. She has beautiful songs about heartache and the pangs of love lost, and others that feel profoundly intimate, cozy, and full of love. You’d have to really know her catalog to get that. Moodsnap will allow for artists like her to unearth deep cuts (lesser known tracks) that most people might not otherwise notice, but in context, they come alive and leave their mark on you. In my opinion, her song “In The Creases” would fit a Moodsnap station conveying the former set of heartbreak emotions, while a song like “Mirror” would aptly be attributed to the latter.

Watch the Moodsnap.fm Boston New Technology Presentation (2013) here

The post [Interview] David Blutenthal, Founder & CEO of Moodsnap appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Brian Parker

With soaring ticket prices and dedicated venues in major cities, music fans often miss out on experiencing their favorite artists’ live performances. Enter EVNTLIVE, an innovative digital venue that broadcasts HD concerts to your computer or mobile devices. Not only does EVNTLIVE offer high-quality streams of live and on-demand concerts, it also allows fans to customize their experiences, controlling camera angles, chatting with other concertgoers, and accessing exclusive content like backstage interviews and behind-the-scenes footage.

Though EVNTLIVE is technically still in its beta stage, it has already broadcast several concerts in the last few months since launching, featuring Bon Jovi, Wale, and The Lumineers, and the platform has been praised by the music and tech industries alike.

We spoke with Co-Founder & CMO David Carrico and CEO Judy Estrin last February (see that interview here) and caught up with Carrico yesterday about EVNTLIVE’s proprietary social features, the process of putting on a show, and what to anticipate for the future of the digital concert experience.

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SoundCtrl: How long has EVNTLIVE been up and running? How many concerts have you now broadcast?

David Carrico: We launched on April 15 2013, so we’ve been up and running for a little over four months now. We’ve broadcast about fifteen to sixteen shows in the last few months.

SC: In our last interview, you stated that EVNTLIVE wasn’t intended to replace a live concert experience. How does the platform bring in some of the elements of the highly social and communal atmosphere of a concert?

DC: The analogy that I like to use is that we know that being at a show is not a replaceable experience, but we do like to take the digital features that we have to make it as much like being at a show as possible. So for us that means while shows are being broadcast on EVNTLIVE.com, users are able to talk to each other using our own chat mechanism about what they’re watching during the show. Users are able to select their own camera angle, so in addition to the live directed feed they can watch one of the artists, whether it be the guitarist or the drummer, or the DJ cam or the crowd cam. Through iTunes, users are able to download music by the artist they’re watching without leaving the page, they’re able to read up more about the artist, and perhaps watch all-access backstage interviews or extra content that we’ve shot related to the artist or the story behind the show.

SC: What kind of technical specifications are required to have a concert streamed in terms of video and audio? How do you go about setting up the recording and streaming of EVNTLIVE events?

DC: Everything we do is incredibly high-end–we like to think of ourselves as a curated digital venue in the sense that we’re only looking at four to six shows a month. The majority of shows we’re doing are six to ten camera HD broadcast television-quality shoots. A lot of planning goes into camera placement and live direction of shows so they’re really the highest quality possible.

SC: Do those features carry over to EVNTLIVE on the iPhone or iPad?

DC: We don’t have native apps yet, but we will be releasing them. Right now the mobile and tablet versions are all HTML5, so you can watch on your cell phone, you can watch on your tablet, you can watch on your computer, and the content is the same on all the devices.

SC: Are you broadcasting primarily from a specific location, or are the concerts worldwide?

DC: The majority of shows we’ve broadcast have been in the United States but we’re talking about shows in the UK and other countries as well. And we’re always streaming those shows internationally, regardless of where they’re taking place.

SC: Will a breaking artist have smaller-scale options within EVNTLIVE where they can gain and grow fans?

DC: Perhaps. At this point however, EVNTLIVE is focused on bringing artists that are already incredibly popular to an event broader audience. There are so many people living in places around the world that a major artist simply won’t tour, since an artist can only tour so many dates a year. Yet there are so many fans internationally. So our goal is to give people who couldn’t make it to the show for whatever reason, be it financial, geographic, the opportunity to see their favorite bands and festivals.

SC: What is the pricing plan or subscription?

DC: At this time all the live webcasts are free. We have the option to offer pay-per-view webcasts but the idea of the business model going forward will be to partner with brands to have some integration in the webcast to help drive revenue for the artist.

SC: Are your relationships with the artists through booking agencies and record labels?

DC: Our relationships extend to agents, managers, and record labels. Typically to do a webcast, all of those parties need to buy in and be interested in participating. 

SC: You mentioned in the last interview that 3D would be a possibility for the future. Are they any plans you have to use new technologies to bring together artists’ fans in a live community setting?

DC: We have ideas about how we could experiment with translating the experience of EVNTLIVE in different ways. One of the things we’ve been interested in looking into in the future is that there are sports bars–why couldn’t there be concert bars? Why couldn’t there be places where people could congregate remotely to enjoy a show if they couldn’t be there across the world? So there are certainly lots of physical opportunities and social opportunities, as well as people just being able to enjoy from their tablets or smartphones in their living rooms.

The post [Interview] David Carrico, Co-Founder & CMO of EVNTLIVE appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Brian Parker

For four years, Creative Allies has been building a community to unite graphic designers and illustrators with musicians and brands to create unique artwork for promotions, campaigns, albums, and even full-on brand identities. With an “alliance” of over 50,000 designers, Creative Allies has created a new model that opens up the design process to larger audiences. By running open contests, designers can submit their original artwork with fans voting for and ultimately deciding on the winning design.

After working as Creative Allies’ Head of Business Affairs, Kevin Carroll was named COO of the agency last month. In a recent interview, Carroll shares his experience, insight, and outlook for Creative Allies as they expand their model and broaden their scope for the future.

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SoundCtrl: What about Creative Allies distinguishes it from the traditional model of creating and selling merchandise?

Kevin Carroll: When Creative Allies was founded, one of the ideals was to see if we could connect the music space with an opportunity for talented graphic designers and illustrators. We ran into a lot of people who went to school and earned a degree, but were waiting tables and looking for jobs. The founder Sean O’Connell had the idea of going to some design schools, taking his contacts in the music industry, and starting off running some contests to create content for the music space.

SC: So it started at the record label level?

KC: Pretty much. We found some labels that were interested and were looking for something different, and now we have more of an augmentative plan. With the amount of social reach we can bring to each contest, we also provide a wonderful marketing opportunity for every band involved.

SC: Were there any specific market trends that inspired CA, or is this more about simply democratizing the process?

KC: The thought is for the fans to have the opportunity to express themselves as to what the music and artistry really means to them. We’ve got a wonderful example with Paramore who essentially challenged their fans to express what [Paramore's] latest project should reflect visually. We had the same sort of success with Slipknot, who basically told their fans, “We’ve got eight albums and we’ve been doing this for nineteen years – show us what our music looks like to you.”

SC: So it’s showing the value of the fan base.

KC: Right. With all of the socialization ties we have through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, the bands can say, “Hey we’re doing this [contest],” and their fans find us and our built-in communities. We can alert them as soon as something is coming across so it’s a double-win for the fans of the artists and for the fans of the band.

SC: How does the artist communicate his or her intention, and is there an option to fine-tune the designs?

KC: There are multiple ways that that can happen. First, we’ve got a really great creative team down in Asheville, NC with Jake Rosenbloum and Rachel Whaley, who do all of the creative designing of briefs. They’ve learned the sweet spot for how we’re trying to get the artwork reflected back from what the artist’s demands are. In all candor, it really depends at what level the artist wants to be involved. Mainly it’s left up to their people, but in some cases the artist is really hands-on. We had Michael Franti do a promotional design greeting saying what he was specifically looking for in a tour poster.

SC: So it’s a customizable experience, as open or as specific as you want it to be.

KC: Right, and we’ve got one out now where we wanted people to reflect what the music of Elvis Presley means to them, without it being a facially focused Elvis design. We’re getting some really creative stuff back.

SC: Do you see this expanding to other industries?

KC: We actually have. We did the 20th anniversary can for Arizona Iced Tea, which is one of the first brands we were involved with. And then we morphed into doing a series with Toyota last year with several different concert stops, and we did a tote bag for each one. This past spring we did Ben & Jerry’s “Shirt Happens” promotion where the winning allies’ t-shirt designs are actually sold in the stores.

SC: And I saw you’re running a contest for a baseball team?

KC: Yeah, it’s actually a major manufacturer in the sports base. We can’t say who’s sponsoring it, but they’re looking for a new, hip image for a baseball product they plan to launch next season – we’re getting some great stuff.

SC: Do you see the format expanding into the digital territory with apps and websites?

KC: We can do whatever a client would like to see happen. We’ve delved into logos and also other physical products, but we have the capacity to do just about anything you can imagine. It really depends on the vision of the client and how they’d like to use our services, but we’ve been able to put it together and do a little bit of everything.

To check out the current contests and to see winners of past contests, visit Creative Allies.

The post [Interview] Kevin Carroll, COO of Creative Allies appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Dana Sedgwick

It’s not too long ago that the residents of Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood were lounging in McCarren Park taking in the sights and sounds of the JellyNYC pool parties and BBMing their other friends to tell them why they should be jealous (ha).

Today, those same hipsters are capturing short videos with their smartphones and one of the creators behind those parties has figured out a fun (and creative) way to share them.

Sympler is video-mixing app. Its interface is simple, based off of the classic MPC. Each spot on the grid can be populated with anything saved to your camera – Vine, Instagram, stills, clips, etc. Music is key to the equation, allowing those of us less comfortable to find a flow, but also allowing for sophisticated producers to create something next level… tapping each tile in time to the music produces a fully edited video in seconds.

We sat down with Founder, Alexander Kane, to talk about his vision to lower the barrier to participation in video creation and heighten the level of creativity at the same time.

Download Sympler from the App Store here

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SoundCtrl: People know you best as the man behind JellyNYC, the infamous “Pool Parties” and the concerts down at Williamsburg’s East River Park. How did you get into app development?

Alexander Kane: Before JELLY and Pool Parties I was a music video director and always had a nagging urge to involve a wider audience in the process. For too long filmmaking and video has been reserved for the few.  So, as Pool Parties was coming to an end, it felt like the right time to build a product that had the same democratic spirit. What Pool Parties did for partygoers Sympler does for budding video makers.

SC: Did your experience in creating these extravaganzas drive any inspiration for the app?

AK: Definitely. The spirit of Pool Parties is very much core to the philosophy of the app. Democratizing fun for creative kids is still what we’re doing. With Pool Parties we deliberately had very few barriers during the first few years.  There was a ‘no VIP’ philosophy.   As producers, we didn’t create the experience, we provided the necessary elements to let the audience define the narrative.  That was what made Pool Parties so special.   Also, the transformative power of music was key.   Sympler provides users with the necessary elements, leverages the power of music, and trusts the user to tell their story.

SC:  Who is the full team behind Sympler?

AK: It’s me and Ben Jenkins who comes from the brand innovation and youth advertising world. While I was directing music videos and running JELLY he was studying the motivations for the young consumers of brands like Coke, Axe, PUMA and Levis. He’d been working on building tech solutions for those youth audiences for the last 14 years. We’ve also worked with Jonah Warren and Steven Sanborn, two great developers who have experience in game design and interactive experiences.

SC: This app is coming just as mobile video sharing is become more and more common – Instagram, Vine, & Snapchat all allow users to capture short video and share it with their friends. How do you envision Sympler co-mingling with these types of products?

AK: Yes – it’s pretty good timing. The ecosystem is actually pretty key to us for a couple of reasons: Firstly Vine and Instagram are constraining people to smaller clips which is good for us as we help you mix together those short clips. Secondly people are just becoming more comfortable with video as a medium and they’re more inclined to share their output now. Sympler is great for mixing and editing content from different sources in an organic and rhythmic way – whether it’s stills from Instagram, 6 second clips from Vine or heavily treated video from 8mm – we become a really easy way to mash up content from the various sources. So the more video apps out there with filters and effects, the better for us.

SC: We’ve all seen examples of how some creatives have taken easy-to-use products like Vine and Instagram and taken them to the next level… have you seen any instances on Sympler that have surprised you or taken the app in a direction you didn’t imagine?

AK: Yes – we’ve given it to a few music producers who are already adept at mixing beats and sounds. They’ve manipulated this as they do their music mixing tools and turned raw video content into music. The other surprise was the way that some people have used this as a final compositing tool after creating video and images in other apps and finishing it off in Sympler.  We were also surprised by how diverse the output from our users has been.  What we expected going in was that timing and rhythm was at the core of the barrier to quality video making.  Which is why we put music in the foreground.  Once someone feels confident mixing a video to a beat, his or her output changes dramatically.  They start using Sympler to create videos of all different genres.

SC: If you could put this app into the hand of any artist, who would it be and why?

AK: This is a tough one.  There are so many out there who we want using the app, because we’d love to see what they create with it.  Michel Gondry comes to mind.  He’s someone who I admired as a young music video director. Not only is he a visionary filmmaker, he’s also a drummer.  I have a feeling he’d create some crazy shit with the app.   Other artists include: Jay Z’s DJ – Young Guru (whose manager we’re already speaking with). Young Guru isn’t just a great DJ and sound engineer but is all about educating kids and leveling the playing field when it comes to his craft and creativity in music.

The post With Sympler, Video Mixing is as Simple as Tapping Out a Beat appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Dana Sedgwick

It’s that time of year again… when everyone pimps their SXSW panel and asks you to vote for them. Well we’re throwing our hat into the ring and are proud to submit an intimate conversation with a legendary radio host turned digital curator DJ Funkmaster Flex – Building Your Digital Brand.

We caught up with Flex last May at our 4th Annual FlashFWD Awards where he came to support Best in Discovery winner, Songza. At SXSW, our own Jesse Kirshbaum (Co-Founder of SoundCtrl, CEO of NUE Agency) will have the chance to sit down with Flex and dive into the particulars of how he continues to push the needle in music culture, industry and tech.

Funk Flex has been America’s #1 radio personality for more than a decade – reaching more than 3M listeners a week on Hot97. Every night between 7PM-12AM, an estimated 10% of all the NYC metropolitan radio audience is listening to him – making him #1 in his time slot. A magnet for brands and notorious for breaking artists, the Flex bomb on a song ultimately marks it as the next big hit in clubs, on the radio and all over the world.

In addition to on-air, Flex has also developed an impressive presence online including his website InFlexWeTrust.com, his Funkmaster Flex app, and various other strategic partnerships with emerging tech companies.

In this dual session, we will break down how Flex has become one of the very few to successfully maintain a strong, traditional relationship with listeners – via radio – while building a digital arsenal that rivals any artist at a major label.

You can VOTE HERE and please be sure to share it with your friends.. we promise to share some BBQ with you in 2014. See you in Austin!

The post Vote for SoundCtrl & DJ Funkmaster Flex at SXSW Interactive 2014 appeared first on SoundCtrl.

by Dave Mainella

Concert curator and all-in-one ticketing app WillCall announced additional funding last week, a round of investing that brings on talented industry experts and positions the company to make a push into the pockets of concert-goers.

We had the opportunity to talk with co-founder and CEO Donnie Dinch about building relationships with music venues, the social aspect of concert attendance, and how the mobile app (for both iOS and Android) aims to facilitate and amplify going to shows.

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SoundCtrl – How did the idea for WillCall come about?

Donnie Dinch – We were sitting around listening to KEXP, a great radio station in Seattle when the Shout Out Louds, easily one of my favorite bands at the time, played a set in the studio. I was pretty upset that I didn’t know until that moment that they were in town — and of course it was way too late to buy a ticket. This sparked a whole discussion on why we didn’t see more shows, and we wondered if lack of awareness was an industry-wide problem.

SC – In addition to concert tickets, the WillCall app also includes options to tip artists and purchase merchandise and custom packages – a one-stop shop to pay for everything. Is that the intended appeal for the concert-goer, ease of use and functionality?

DD – Absolutely. We think the entire experience of going to a concert should be completely seamless. Payments create a lot of hassle during a show, and that hassle can suck up a lot of brain power which saps the fun out of a night out. Anything we can do to make things easier is a good thing.

SC – WillCall incorporates social media by sharing purchases on Facebook and Twitter and by notifying users of friends’ activities. How do you hope to grow the social component of the app?

DD – People rarely go to concerts alone, so there’s a lot of opportunity for us to make the process of getting together with other people easier. For example, the use case of buying more than one ticket to a concert and not knowing who you’re going with yet  is extremely common. We can build out social features that support this behavior.

SC – You’ve mentioned the importance of working with venues, offering venue owners analytics about attendance and ticket sales as one way of recognizing that importance. Are there other things you hope to offer venues in the future?

DD – Admission to a show is just the first part of a larger experience. We’re interested in optimizing every transaction and interaction that takes place during the course of attending a show. Drinks, merch, food, transportation — there’s a lot of friction to reduce inside and outside of the venues.

SC – Can you describe the process of working with venues? Is it a matter of establishing a relationship and partnering with a club, or is it more of a concert-to-concert basis?

DD – Building relationships within the existing music scenes in San Francisco and New York has been an area of strong focus for us. We work very closely with the venues, promoters, and artists themselves on each show.

SC – Do you find some venues to be reluctant to work with you?

DD – Once venues understand the value we’re adding, they’re really excited about working with us. We bring very focused marketing and amplified event awareness. It has an additive network effect that venues really appreciate.

SC – Have venues sold more tickets by selling through WillCall?

DD – Absolutely. Not only are we helping venues grow their audiences at the shows they’ve already booked, we’re creating an environment that facilitates more people going to live shows more often. Streaming services like Spotify have surfaced so many more incredible musicians. While there may be fewer artists that can sell out 10,000 person rooms, there are many more that can sell out 500 person clubs. The club level is what interests us right now. We’re creating a casual use case that facilitates people seeing a show as often as they go to a bar or a coffee shop.

SC – This round of funding includes investments by music industry “heavy weights” Sean Parker, Oliver Luckett, Coran Capshaw, John Frankenheimer, and Bruce Flohr. You must be excited to work with such a talented group, who’s experience includes, but is certainly not limited to, artist management and A&R. What else do these people bring to the table, and how will they help WillCall yield tangible results?

DD – It’s pretty exciting to have so many smart people with deep industry experience involved with WillCall. They bring insight and perspective on the intersection of music and technology that few other people have access to. Beyond that, they bring a passion for innovating music that lines up with our mission to make live music a bigger part of everyday life.

SC – WillCall is currently available in New York City and San Francisco, with Los Angeles coming in the near future. Does this round of funding provide the opportunity to expand regional markets even further?

DD – Absolutely. We’ll be in LA next, and some other cities soon after that. We’ve been lucky to see great interest from cities with robust music communities domestically and in some international markets.

The post [Interview] Donnie Dinch, Co-Founder & CEO of WillCall appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Dana Sedgwick

Seattle had the chance to get to know its hometown hero last night, Macklemore, as he took the stage with Rap Radar founder Elliott Wilson for the fourth installment of new series #CRWN.

An “inside the actors studio”- esk event, CRWN features down to earth interviews with rappers that are filmed in front of a live audience and then hosted online with content partners Electus and 2013 FlashFWD nominee, Myspace. Past episodes have showcased Tyler the Creator in NYC getting personal about the death of his grandmother and Wale in DC talking about his latest release The Gifted and the potential Album About Nothing.

Last night was no exception as Wilson dug deep with Ben Haggerty, AKA Macklemore. Check out some photos from the night below and keep your eyes peeled for the release of the episode here.

(photos by Jordan Nicholson)

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The post New Interview Series #CRWN w/ Elliott Wilson is Making Waves Coast to Coast appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Dave Mainella

One of the most remarkable adaptations of progressive technology and social engagement is Fancam, bringing gigapixel photography to large-crowd events and share-worthy immersive experiences to thousands of fans.  We got to talking with Fancam CSO Stefan du Toit about the secrets behind the process, brand outreach, and mobile marketing & interconnectivity.

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SoundCtrl - The Fancam website explains that, in creating these giant images, it’s not the technology that makes the magic… it’s how and by whom it’s used.  Who are these very special people that make up the photography and production teams?

Stefan du Toit - The passion that the Fancam experience instills in the user is mirrored by the team that put these together.  We have about 30 worldwide specialized photographers with years of experience in event photography.  This ensures that the raw material of each Fancam, i.e. the digital images, are of the highest quality.  The next step in the process is our production teams that stitch together these gigantic images, and then painstakingly go through every part of the 20 gigapixel image to ensure each fan is as clear and visible as possible to recreate the memory.  As a Fancam goes live 24 hours after the event, the production team often burns the midnight oil.

SC – Capturing the Fancam image takes between 3 and 15 minutes, producing hundreds of images with a composite resolution of around 20 gigapixels.  That’s a lot of data in a short amount of time!  What methods and practices have you developed to minimize that time? 

ST – All credit for this technique goes to our Director of Photography, James Taylor, for pioneering this technique.  Although I cannot give away our trade secrets, James developed this method and it is part of our rigorous training to become a Fancam photographer.

SC – How much planning happens before those crucial minutes take place?

ST – As with every event, planning is key.  This starts weeks before the event when our operations team works with the event team to ensure that the Fancam photography is not intrusive.  Our photographers will do a pre-shoot the day before to determine the best shoot position, light settings, lens selection, and access points.

SC – Exploring the Fancam portfolio, every single face appears incredibly clear and detailed.  What kind of editing goes into adjusting the imperfections of the captured images, to make sure “each and every fan is presented in the best way possible?”

ST – When ‘stitching’ a composite image, computers basically have to make millions of prioritization decisions and merge images accordingly.  They need to decide which pixel to keep, which pixel to delete, and which to adjust; the better you understand the process and the math behind it, the better you can customize the algorithms used to do the job.

Our particular strength lies in matching the correct photographic approach to the correct algorithm and then optimizing the hardware to work best with that selection.  It literally comes down to things like the type of RAM you use.

After you’ve checked all those boxes, the last thing to do is good old Photoshop manual labor. Hours of feathers erasers, levels, and polygon selection tools.

SC – The process of “tiling” the huge composite image into thousands of smaller images creates a layered approach that allows users to zoom in and explore without having to download large amounts of data, much akin to the technology behind Google Maps.  Are there other technological tools and methods of gathering and presenting Big Data that Fancam has adopted?  Are there some that you’ve pioneered?

ST – The short answer is yes.  We have a dedicated development team who ensures that we keep innovating.  Fan experience is their key objective, and the most recent accomplishment is our native iOS and Andriod apps, which are the first of their kind.

SC - Fancam is an attractive tool for brands to extend their reach beyond the single event, allowing fans to relive and share their experiences.  How can brands continue to directly connect with fans through Fancam?  Is there an integration of video and other interactive components?

ST - Because the Fancam technology was built from the ground up, we have a number of interactive features available for brands to connect with the fans on a Fancam.  Some of my favorite features include embedded pre-roll videos, ‘green screen’ videos placed within the crowd, customization of tags and treasure hunts.

The important thing however is to match the goals of the brand with the appropriate media or technology – and that’s something we’ve become really good at.

SC – You’ve done more than 250 events to date.  Has there been an increase in demand for Fancams?  Is the market for music events equally as strong as for sporting events?

ST – Yes, there has been.  More and more brands are looking for tangible, quantifiable returns on investment in the digital marketing space and because we’ve been able to consistently deliver great stats and data, interest is on a very pleasing curve. 

Historically, music makes up about 40% of all Fancams, and we expect this to keep growing as artists and brands see the value in connecting with fans through digital content.

SC – A truly global enterprise, Cape Town-based Fancam works with clients and events around the world.  How have you found fan engagement and response to differ from country to country?

ST – I would say that activation success has more to do with the type of the event than the location of it.  Fans at a music festival, for instance, are usually a more fragmented community than, say, a home game for a college football team.  In the football example you’ll find that the ‘degrees of separation’ between fans are much less than in the case of the music festival, where you will find fans of several different bands ‘co-inhabiting’ the same event.  Understanding these differences is really important, and knowing how to incorporate this understanding into digital marketing activations even more so.

The short answer, however, is no; Real Madrid fans are just as crazy about their team as Green Bay Packers fans – and luckily for us, they all like tagging themselves.

SC – 46% of Taylor Swift’s Fancam views were on mobile devices.  What was the breakdown of views between mobile browser and mobile app?

ST – Spherical gigapixel images have not been viewable on mobile devices until we released our app two months ago and the HTML5 viewer will only go live at the end of August, so making a call on user preference at this stage would be premature.  What we I can say is that we had 38,000 downloads of the iOS app for the recent UEFA Champions League Final in London and that it has had a significant impact on share-ability of the activations.

SC – It seems counterintuitive to view such a huge image on such a small device as a smartphone. Does the value to the user lie in sharing and interacting with the image and not necessarily in the picture itself? What do you think explains the popularity of mobile?

ST – That’s an interesting point, although I think with devices like the Nexus 7 and the iPad mini blurring the lines between smartphone and tablet, mobile is quite a diverse category in itself.  My personal preference is for a bigger screen experience, but the most important thing from an activation point of view is to be able to serve the fan in terms of whatever his or her preference is, and sometimes immediacy and access is more important to them than screen size.

We’ve also found that users have become more and more comfortable consuming high quality content on a smaller screen, so the general market direction has had a positive influence on the consumption of our content as well.

SC – Another high-profile artist that Fancam has worked with is U2.  An amazing intitial response in South Africa resulted in a total of 24 Fancams during the 5-month sold-out tour across the US and Canada.  Was the U2 tour a milestone for Fancam?  What kind of response was generated?

ST – The U2 tour was indeed a milestone for Fancam.  Not just because of the prestige of working with such an amazing team of people, but also because it is our CEO’s all time favorite band and one of the reasons he set out to create the technology.

SC – Does Fancam plan to introduce any upcoming new features, for either client or user?

ST – Fancam is constantly innovating for both the client and the user/fan.  We just completed our first Fancam in Russia for Red Bull and integrated the popular social platform ‘VK’, as an additional authentication tool for tags as well as another option for Russian fans to share the content.  The focus, of course, is to ensure that the fan has a great experience and that the sharing is easy and intuitive. 

Innovation for our clients has mostly been behind the scenes and we have put a lot of effort into delivering a turnkey solution for brands and agencies that work with us.  We know that most marketers are overworked and underpaid, so we provide everything from in-house design to social media activation.

SC – Where do you expect this field of large crowd gigapixel photography to go moving forward?  What’s the next step for Fancam? 

ST – Our goal is for Fancam to become a standard offering at most special events.  Every day more fans and clients get exposed to the technology so the awareness is building.

In terms of additional functionality, Fancam’s focus over the next year will be around integrating fan generated content.  Fans love Fancam as it is a post event congregation point, and enabling fans to upload comments, photos, and other social components will be a logical next step.  We also find that our clients often come up with a lot of the innovative ideas and we love to respond by making it happen.

The post [Interview] Stefan Du Toit, CSO of Fancam appeared first on SoundCtrl.

via The Phat Startup

As in business, the rules around funding your business change. Whether it’s self funding or outside capital, there comes a time when you might need some extra cash to expand your business.

Self funding or bootstrapping your business would be the most ideal and something to brag about, but when should you start seriously considering raising funds? Do you really need to give up some of your equity? How much should you ask for, when?

This month we grabbed our friend Brian Watson of Union Square Ventures to fill us in on the new rules of start up funding. Brian is an analyst there and gets to evaluate start ups for a career, so he knows his stuff. If you want to know Brian’s background and such check out our previous interview with him. This talk was strictly about that C.RE.A.M. and over 40 people packed the room to learn.

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About The Phat Startup:

From Jay-Z to Warren Buffett there is no denying that Hip Hop has embedded itself all over the business world while influencing some of the greatest minds to date. We aim to show the correlation and lessons to be learned between Hip Hop and the Business World.

Starting a business is not easy but it can be done with determination and passion. We decided to start The Phat Startup during a Startup Weekend that focused on music and gaming. We realized that many of the attendees were inspired and actually learned from many of their favorite Hip Hop figures. We decided to bring these lessons to life while also providing an educational platform that people could use as inspiration or to get started during their journey as an entrepreneur.

The post [VIDEO] How to Get Your Startup Funded with Brian Watson of Union Square Ventures appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Dave Mainella

This past Monday, wearable technology company Muzik announced the upcoming release of the world’s first “socially connected smart headphones”.  Not your average earbuds, these headphones seamlessly integrate social media into the music listening experience.  It’s this trademarked Social Smartware technology that truly brings these headphones beyond music and into the 21^st century.

We had a chance to talk with Muzik founder and CEO Jason Hardi about these flagship headphones and about the development of this young company on the cutting edge.

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SoundCtrl – What was the inspiration for Muzik’s smart headphones?  When did you first come up with the idea and how long has it been incubating?

Jason Hardi – After my last project, I noticed a lag in advancement and innovation within the headphone space, so I began to design a headphone that would bring forth real connectivity and feature controls to the consumer.  I believe Muzik’s “smart” headphone will transform the way consumers share, experience, and discover music.

I’ve been working on this project for about nine months.  I’ve pulled together an amazing team of experts across a number of industries, including technology, business, music, social media, and entertainment.  To finally launch and have the product front and center is incredibly exciting!

SC – Have you worked on other entrepreneurial projects that ultimately contributed to the development of Muzik, personally and/or professionally?

JH – I’ve worked on a number of projects with other entrepreneurs in the technology space.  I’ve always been intrigued by those disruptive technologies that really change the way consumers interact with average technology.  For me, I really wanted to bring forth the innovation the headphone industry was lacking.

SC – Why the name Muzik?

JH – We believe that music connects the world.  We wanted to take a fresh approach to a word that everyone can relate to. 

SC – Who is the expected consumer base – audiophiles, gear-heads, the average music listener?  Or maybe iPhone and Android users, avid Twitterers, and prolific Instagramers?

JH – Smartphone users.  We’ve created our audio products to appeal to anyone that consumes music.  By integrating gesture controls with sharing features, our audio products become an extension of communication tools, gaming controls, and tracking athletic movements.  Our App will be available for use on iOS and Android with additional platforms in the pipeline.

SC – Muzik smart headphones have amazing cross-platform potential – the ability to connect with Facebook, Twitter, iOS and Android.  Have you received an enthusiastic response from developers hoping to team up with Muzik and your Social Smartware technology?

JH – In the coming weeks, the API will be opened to third-party developers who will have the opportunity to create applications that can utilize the headphones’ technology.  Developers will be able to customize the Muzik headphones’ proximity sensors and adjust the hotkey functionality.  This will take the “smart” headphone outside of just the music space.  I’m looking forward to seeing what the developer community can do and what industries they’ll be able to bring this to!

SC – Are there any specific developers or partners that you’re excited about working with?

JH – Right now we’re currently working with Facebook, Twitter, Spotify and Rdio, which we’re very excited about!  We’ve currently got more in the works that we will be able to share in the coming weeks.

SC – Have you involved any musicians and artists in the development of these smart headphones, and do you hope to moving forward?

JH – At this stage we’re focusing on the exciting launch of the company and getting all of our strategic partners in line.  Hopefully down the line we’ll be able to engage and have support from the music community among others. 

SC – In Muzik’s press release, John Cawley expressed Muzik’s interest in “joining the ranks of the most innovative companies – Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nike and Samsung”.  How do you aim to stand apart from the rest of this impressive field?

JH – We believe that Muzik will be a disruptive and innovative technology within the wearable technology space.  All of these companies have brought incredible technology to the table and we hope to join them in that initiative.  The headphone space has lacked the innovation it deserves—headphones will never again just be for listening to music or talking on the phone.  Muzik’s headphones will improve the way we socially discover, share, listen, and experience music.  What Google glass is doing for the eyes, Muzik is hoping to bring to our ears.

SC – You’ve stated that the smart headphones and “other related products” will be released in the upcoming 4th quarter of 2013.  Will Muzik stay focused on the audio space?  Or, as a “wearable technology company”, can we expect other non-musical devices in the future?

JH – Muzik will certainly have other related products in the audio space, which we will release down the road.  We’ve currently got our hands in a lot of different areas and a host of people in the non-music sector that we’re working with.

The post Q&A: Muzik Founder & CEO Jason Hardi on Smart Headphones & Wearable Technology appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Dana Sedgwick

Audio-identification app, Shazam, has long been the go-to service for that frustrating moment when you hear a song in the car or at your local coffee shop that you love, but don’t know. Tagging a song tells you the artist and title, creating a list you can track to remember the songs that followed you throughout your day.

But the service has slowly been expanding beyond that niche, where new competitors (such as SoundHound) have crowded the field. A recent $40 million investment from America Movil’s Carlos Slim Helu confirms the app’s determination to define an entirely new industry – media engagement – focusing not just on music, but on television and advertising as well. No longer just a resource to identify something you don’t know, Shazam is now also a place to find more about what you do know – for instance, unlocking behind-the-scenes info for your favorite show and noticing what your friends are watching in real time.

Advancement in Shazam’s technology also points towards some exciting possibilities in predictive analysis and recommendation for Shazam users and the industry as a whole. New feature “auto-tagging” can track your listening habits automatically and other fun, relevant features are said to be on the way.

We had the chance to interview Shazam’s Executive Chairman, Andrew Fisher, to get the scoop on Shazam’s new investment, new direction, and hopeful future.

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SoundCtrl: As the force behind America Movil, Carlos Slim Helu clearly has a deep understanding of mobile… Given that Latin America is one of the fastest-growing regions for smartphone adoption, how will this investment expand Shazam’s footprint there?

Andrew Fishman: Shazam has 350 million people who use the service in 200 countries, including many of those in South and Central America. The America Movil investment – as well as a business partnership with the company – will help us further expand our offerings in this important region initially via pre-loads on certain devices

SC: Slim’s investment coincides with a noticeable transition at Shazam to become a “media engagement” platform – venturing beyond music and into television, ads, etc. How and why did Shazam begin to diversify its database?

AF: Shazam is defining an entirely new industry – media engagement – enabling people to use their mobile phone to interact with the things that interest them, including television and music. This is a natural transition for our company as it uses our core technology – audio recognition – to make it quick and easy for people to get exactly the information they are looking for, at the moment they want it. The global advertising market alone is worth more than $300 billion, making this a very attractive investment for America Movil and our other investors, as well as an amazing opportunity for Shazam.

SC: How will Shazam use the $40 million investment to elevate this new strategy?

AF: While the company is already experiencing tremendous growth in our Shazam for TV service, with Shazam-enabled advertising for hundreds of global A-list brands running in 28 countries, it plans to continue investing in staffing and technology to continue this growth as well as innovating the app.

SC: Shazam initially made money by referring users to music purchase links… will Shazam now be expanding more into mobile advertising?

AF: Shazam has three primary sources of revenue: affiliate sales of digital content such as music, in-app advertising and Shazam-enabled TV advertising; this last category is our fastest-growing source of revenue. The new sources of funding will help Shazam grow its sales team to continue expanding this service in the US and abroad.

SC: How will Shazam’s social engagement strategy evolve to meet the growing demand for “second-screen engagement”?

AF: Shazam’s goal is to be the app that everyone wants to use every day, making it a part of their lives whenever they want to engage with content that interests them, whether that content is on the television, radio or anywhere else – including the second screen. Currently, people in the US can use Shazam on any program and most ads broadcast on 160 channels to unlock additional content such as cast information, gossip about the show, music featured in the program and a host of other information. Shazam is planning to continue expanding this service in the coming year.

SC: New feature “auto tagging” has some interesting potential… By listening to and tracking every taggable piece of audio you come in contact with, Shazam could predict with extreme accuracy your lifestyle and listening habits. How does Shazam plan to deliver on that end?

AF: Shazam has long been recognized by the music industry for its predictive skills. In fact, more than 80% of songs that go to the top of the Shazam Tag Charts then go on to top national charts as well. Shazam is now looking at the wealth of information around our tags – including that now provided by Auto-Tagging – to see how it can provide fun, relevant new features that its users will enjoy.

The post No Longer Just for the Coffee Shop, Shazam Aims to Identify Radio, Television and Beyond appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Dana Sedgwick

Today marks the long anticipated release of Björk’s Biophilia App Album for Android. A 2012 FlashFWD winner for Best in Mobile and Tablet, the Biophilia App Album is actually a collection of 10 apps which each correlate to a song on Bjork’s multimedia album of the same name. The apps are also the foundation for the Biophilia Educational Program, a series of interactive workshops to bring science and music instruction to students around the world.

The lab behind these and many other incredible interactive apps is called Snibbe Studio, led by Scott Snibbe. We had a chance to catch up with Snibbe this week to discuss the Android release (made possible with help from San Francisco-based startup Apportable), and dive further into how “interactivity” melds with media, how apps can elevate this goal, and what to expect from Snibbe Studio later this year.

To purchase the Biophilia App Album for Android, visit the Google Play store.

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SoundCtrl: At Snibbe Studio, you “believe interactivity is capable of no less than bringing our dreams to life.” While some argue that the influence of technology has made art (esp music) more artificial and isolating, why do you advocate that tech can be immersive and even organic?

Scott Snibbe: There’s nothing intrinsic to any medium, or anything at all, for that matter, that’s inherently isolating or connecting. It’s how you use them. People had similar concerns about electronic instruments when they first emerged. We believe technology can be used to enhance people’s ability to create, communicate, and connect with each other. Particularly as the world moves into a maker and remix culture, music and video are the next steps. First it was Tweets, then photos, and next comes …? That’s what we’re working on right now.

SC: As a part of a rising cast of influencers I would describe as creative technologists, you created your first app back in the 1990′s nearly 20 years before smartphones appeared on the market… why apps? What do they offer that music or video alone cannot?

SS: Apps offer interactivity. Humans are interactive. When another person doesn’t respond at all to us, or talks incessantly without listening, it’s rather annoying. The next evolution in media is towards interactivity, where media (music, visuals, images) become interactive and social, the way humans themselves are, and expect others to be.

SC: Playing devil’s advocate for a second… should music really be interactive? Don’t artists record their music specifically so that it can be experienced in the way they intended, over and over again?

SS: For 29,500 years or so, music was interactive and participatory. So much so that when we listen to music, three parts of our brain all light up at the same time: the parts for dancing, making music, and hearing it. But the first two have gradually been removed over the last 500 years, and the last 100 was a novel period with completely recorded music, “one way media.” I believe people will look back at this period as a historical blip. Music was meant to be interactive and participatory. And artists enjoy giving their listeners not just a pre-recorded perfect track, but, perhaps, the feeling of what it’s like to be a musical artist, to immerse them in the creative and social experience they go through when creating performing their own music.

SC: Last year, you joined us as the honoree for Best in Mobile & Tablet at FlashFWD for the creation of Björk’s Biophilia app – to me, this project remains the pinnacle of multi-media and multi-sensory invention. Can you remind our readers about how that came together and elaborate on the Android version released today?

SS: Björk’s Biophilia was the world’s first “App Album” a completely interactive audiovisual-tactile experience where every song has a different visual and audio interactive existence. Some songs are like games, others like interactive music videos, and others like visual instruments. The concept sprung from Björk’s mind, as a project to combine music, nature, and technology. She’s always believed that technology (mostly electronic music) could be a way to bring people closer to nature, and to each other, and her songs bear that out. Every song has a natural element: viruses, dark matter, the cycles of the moon, and so on. And every song has a musicological element: generative music, scales, arpeggios, etc. Technology marries these two elements in each song into an interactive whole.

This week the Android version is released, which fans have been asking for since the project launched. We were able to create the Android version in a unique way, by working with a company called Apportable. They have a system where they have completely re-implemented all the iOS frameworks, so that the same app actually compiles and runs on Android. We were incredibly grateful to that team, and relieved to give up on much more elaborate plans we had for porting the app to Android. We hope people enjoy the Android version, and, in particular, that it enables Björk’s educational programs using Biophilia to be used by more people around the world.

SC: Since Biophilia, you’ve created similar immersive album experiences for Passion Pit’s Gossamer and most recently, for a collection of Philip Glass remixes called REWORK_. In a practical sense, do you think this new type of album can help the industry recover from the collapse of recorded music sales?

SS: I don’t think the app album helps the music industry recover. The phenomenon that’s going on in the music industry is much bigger: people are moving away from purchasing individual pieces of content (songs and videos) towards subscription services, or ad-supported services. Even a paid app is still fitting into this older model, which I believe will be around for some time, but will gradually diminish in favor of subscriptions and ad-support.

SC: Snibbe Studio recently closed an angel investment from Matthew Papakipos, Engineering Director at Facebook. Can you tell us a bit about the immediate and longterm projects the team is working on?

SS: The project we’re working on is still “stealth,” however, what I can say is that it’s a way to mash up the kind of things we’ve done with visual music to date, and turn these into a giant worldwide community where everyone can participate all day and night. Stay tuned, as this app will come out sometime towards the end of the year!

SC: You’ve had your fair share of amazing projects and artistic partners. Who are some exciting innovators that inspire you and recent products that you admire?

SS: To begin with some of the newer people on the scene, I’ll start with two of my favorite creators, the duo Theo Watson and Emily Gobeille (Design I/O). I saw a preview of a John Lennon app they are going to release this Fall, and it’s just beautiful. I also love Robert Hodgin‘s work, Memo Akten’s, and Quayola. The artists that inspired me the most when I was young (and still do) are James Turrell, Len Lye, Joseph Cornell, Oskar Fischinger, David Byrne, and Laurie Anderson.

Memo Akten’s “Laser Forest” (2013)

The post Q&A with Scott Snibbe (Snibbe Studio) + Release of Biophilia App Album for Android appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Dave Mainella

Earlier this week, we reported on Bandzoogle’s acquistion of Onesheet, a platform designed to help artists create and maintain an attractive online presence.  We had a chance to talk with Onesheet co-founder Brenden Mulligan about the sale, his other projects, and his resume as entrepreneur.

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SoundCtrl – What was your goal with Onesheet and, in your opinion, has it been achieved?

Brenden Mulligan – My goal was to make it dead simple for musicians to create a web presence of their own with content they’d already posted elsewhere.  Tens of thousands of musicians have proved that goal was achieved.

SC – In your blog post announcing the acquisition, you mentioned that you first talked with Bandzoogle  the moment Onesheet launched, hoping to work together rather than compete.  Was this acquisition really destined from the beginning?  Was there any catalyst that finally made the deal happen?

BM – Both companies had an enormous amount of mutual respect for each other from the moment of launch, and we wanted to work together.  The catalyst for finally getting the deal done was my desire to focus my time on Cluster and [Onehseet co-founder] Ryan Marshall’s desire to take some time off and go out on tour. Seemed like a perfect time to find a new home for it and Bandzoogle was the ideal buyer.

SC – Did Bandzoogle have any competition hoping to partner up with you and Onesheet?

BM – I did talk to a bunch of different companies, both large and small, but just didn’t find a fit as strong as with Bandzoogle.  When selling a business in this way, it’s important to me that the users are affected as little as possible.  I had the same strategy with ArtistData, and over 3 years later, ArtistData still exists and tens of thousands of artists use it daily.  I wanted the same future for Onesheet: for the site to keep operating and the users to be taken care of.

SC – After you sold ArtistData to Sonicbids in 2006, you joined Sonicbids as a VP of Strategic Development.  Do you still work with Sonicbids?  Will you be joining Bandzoogle in any similar capacity, or simply helping with the transition?

BM – I left Sonicbids in June of 2011.  For Bandzoogle, we’ve already assisted with much of the transition, and my time will be spent focused on my new startup, Cluster.

SC – What’s your gaol with Cluster?  How many active users does it have, and do you have some targets moving forward?

BM – We want to make it simple and fun for groups of people who have a shared interest or experience to combine their photos into a central, social, album.  People are using it for weddings, vacations, and other events, but also using it for keeping an ongoing album of their new baby or pet that the whole family can contribute to and enjoy.  It’s unbelievable to see how well it’s working and how amazed people are when they start seeing all the photos they never knew existed before. 

SC – Cluster is free to join, with premium features to be unveiled in the near future.  Can you hint at what some of those features might be?

BM – Our users are building incredibly meaningful, unique, and emotional photo collections.  We haven’t made any decisions on premium features, but it’s likely that we’ll offer ways to save and print these albums.

SC – Onesheet and ArtistData are two of your products with an emphasis on music tech.  While Cluster is a divergence from that, do you have any plans or interest for other music-based projects?

BM – Working in music has been a great joy, and it’s something I’ll always be thankful for.  However, it’s a difficult market that has some core industry problems that need to be addressed. I can’t imagine wanting to build another company in that environment.

SC – Have you always been a sort of serial entrepreneur?  What was your first entrepreneurial venture?

BM – ArtistData was my first startup, but selling toys at a flea market when I was 8 was probably my first entrepreneurial venture.

SC – It seems that you most enjoy creating, happy to let others eventually carry through your vision.  Is it ever difficult to let go of something like Onesheet, something that you’ve committed yourself to building from scratch?

BM – The hardest part is finding the team to hand it off to.  That’s a very long and hard process.  Once they’re found, handing it off is easy, because I have enormous confidence in the team.

SC – You’ve certainly had your fair share of great ideas.  What are some exciting products that you’re seeing today, particularly in regards to music tech, others’ great ideas that you admire?

BM – It’s not new, but I still find Pandora to be the best service for consuming and discovering music.  The best purchase I’ve made in the past year has been outfitting my apartment with Sonos.  That system has brought music intro my life in a way I’ve never had before, and I don’t know how I lived without it.

The post Q&A with Brenden Mulligan (Co-Founder, Onesheet) appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Dana Sedgwick

The lack of female visibility in the music industry is an old and enduring issue. Despite the fact that there are many innovative and creative women hard at work, the truth is that many don’t wind up in the spotlight they deserve.

SkyLight is working to change that. Founded in 2013 by artist manager Stephanie LaFera and media professional Kerri Mason, SkyLight’s mission aims to “light a path to success for aspiring female entrepreneurs in electronic dance music, through mentorship, networking, and funding opportunities.”

The organization just concluded its first round of grants – recipients of which were invited to attend and shadow industry mentors at the 2013 EDMBiz Conference (June 18-20) in Las Vegas.

SoundCtrl caught up with one of these female entrepreneurs, Kara Dake (Founder, Signalfy) post-conference to talk about her experience within the EDM community and the challenges/opportunities associated with being a female entrepreneur in this quickly expanding market.

“Your source for Electronic Music Events & Festivals,” Signalfy aims at providing an in-depth and diverse guide of up-to-date EDM shows, events and festivals. The idea was born in NYC, when Dake was frustrated at the lack of online event curation and suggestion for visitors:

Dake: “I realized that there needed to be a go-to place for the kind of events I went to… for the most part, the events I attended were part of an underground Brooklyn scene, generally promoted by word of mouth. How could you find that if you were an Airbnb-er for the weekend?”

Through an accelerator program, Dake eventually narrowed the scope of her site just to electronic music events. In her early 20’s, she had lived in London where electronic music was the soundtrack to life. Now living in Portland, she is surprised by the rich electronic culture bubbling right under the surface of the quiet Pacific Northwest city:

Dake: “EDM is a very exciting market to be in right now. Portland has been an interesting place for Signalfy to start because the scene is very diverse… techno, trance, dubstep, moombahton, drum and bass… the West Coast has many multi-genre EDM festivals that add to the experience with activities like yoga and really being a part of nature.”

Signalfy will be coming to Seattle (Wed July 10th), San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vegas soon as well and recently expanded into national festivals. The company is launching their iOS and Android apps in late July coinciding with the Northwest House Music Conference in Portland. With a growing community flocking to Signalfy, Dake saw SkyLight as an important opportunity to connect with the industry on a whole new level.

Dake: “There were 50 applicants, which was exciting. You have to prove yourself and keep proving yourself… EDMBiz gave me some amazing insight. One of my mentors was Tony Faure, who made Yahoo a household name in Australia… his advice on the event space was honest and at times difficult to hear, but that’s how you evolve. It was amazing networking – an impromptu pitch to Shelly Finkel (President of SFX Entertainment) was definitely a highlight. I can’t talk about it quite yet, but we’re preparing for a pivot that involves a bigger stake in Vegas. ”

In an industry that is still dominated by male executives and plagued by stereotypes, it’s encouraging to see professionals like Mason and LaFera reach back and give a hand to other passionate and driven women. And when I asked Dake about the challenges she’s met as a female entrepreneur, she didn’t deny that at times it’s been difficult:

Dake: “I remember this one investor pitch I gave in Portland… I’d thought I was supposed to meet with just a couple of people but when I presented it was a to a full boardroom of 12 suits – men of course, I’ve never met with a female investor. And then everything went wrong… the EDM video didn’t play, the slides got messed up. It was awful. But I did it, I didn’t walk out of the room. I didn’t give up because it wasn’t what I expected. I’ve learned you always have to roll with it. You put yourself out there and people will respect you for it.”

Dake expressed gratitude for the program and the experience she’s had, but she also outlined a silent concern that I’m sure plagues many people in this position…

Dake: “It’s needed what [Mason and LaFera] are doing. At first, you worry that people will think – “well, you’re just getting recognized because you’re a female” – and obviously, no one wants to be singled out that way. But very quickly, you realize that’s unimportant. Mason and LaFera could have done a panel on women in electronic music… but they realized that wasn’t going to change anything nor help balance the scales. Instead, they did this. It’s helped me and hopefully, will continue to help others.”

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By Jason Epstein

Since launching in 2007, Bandsintown has grown in popularity in a most exponential manner with a variety of live music-centric features, allowing fans track their favorite artists just as easily as artists manage their tour dates.  We had a Q&A with Bandsintown CEO Julien Mitelberg and spoke about their involvement with Vans Warped Tour, music fan “personalities”, and the state of the live music industry today.

SoundCtrl – Bandsintown was recently announced as the official app of the 2013 Vans Warped Tour. Can you tell us how the app works and how it integrates with the Warped Tour experience for fans that use it at the festival?

Julien Mitelberg - Many of the artists playing the Vans Warped Tour use Bandsintown’s platform for artists to promote their tour dates, as well as the tour page on Facebook, so this was a natural fit for us.

We’re able to share all of the artists’ events on the official Vans Warped Tour page so that all of the traffic, RSVPs, and comments are consolidated into a single event.  Whenever a fan RSVPs to a Bandsintown event for their favorite artist playing Warped, that will sync back to the Warped event, regardless of whether it was through the artist page, an artist post, or our Facebook or mobile apps.  This drives more traffic to the Warped events and page, and remedies the confusion of having more than 100 bands playing a full tour together with scattered Facebook events.

SC – Do more Bandsintown users tend to be die-hard music lovers seeking the musical experience of going to a concert or social-seekers that enjoy the atmosphere of a concert and the company they’re with?

JM - It really encompasses everyone from the biggest die-hard fans down to people who are just looking for something to do.  We commissioned a study with Insight Strategy Group last summer that looked closely at the behaviors of several different types of concert-goers.  We found that 18% of concert-goers (what we called “Dedicated Diehards”) were most invested in seeing one of their favorite artists play live vs. going with friends, which we address by pushing concert announcement early so Dedicated Diehards can make plans ASAP.  On the other hand, 22% (“Tag-Alongs”) would mainly go for the social aspect: tagging along with other friends who are going to the show.  For them, Bandsintown provides a run-down of the weeks ahead through our weekly newsletter, so if they have friends visiting one weekend, they can check Bandsintown for those dates and find shows to check out that their music library suggests they’d enjoy.  Two other groups of music fans – “Plugged-Indies” (15%) and “Super Fans” (20%) – fell somewhere in between.  They go to enjoy the music but are also actively interested in the social scene. You can read the full study HERE.

SC - How much does trend-setting really affect ticket sales and the live concert industry in general?

JM - It’s clear that Bandsintown and other social media-based apps are informing people about more shows, thus leading them to buy more concert tickets.  With that in mind, we’re harnessing the power of word-of-mouth and “trend-setting,” as you said, with new updates to Bandsintown that we just rolled out in the last few weeks.  We’re now encouraging our fan base to communicate amongst themselves within the app, since with over 5M registered users; Bandsintown is its own social network of live music fans.  This includes the ability for users to see each others’ concert RSVPs with a separate section for “Friends,” also allowing them to invite friends to shows directly through the app.  Want to check out Jane’s Addiction?  Bandsintown will tell you who of your friends likes the band, so you can suggest they join you at the show.  This new social layer connects the dots to a lot of the ideas that Bandsintown is passionate about, and we’re already seeing our users sharing more concert info with their friends, resulting in them buying more tickets to shows.

SC - What does the Bandsintown Spotify app offer users that they can’t get with the Bandsintown Facebook app?

JM - With our Spotify app, we’ve taken the same great functionality you’ll find in our Facebook app and pushed it to the next level.  In addition to previewing shows in your area and the ability to RSVP to shows and buy tickets, our Spotify app offers music fans the added bonus of streaming music to make more informed decisions on what their next live show will be.  Now you can listen to full songs of bands you may not be familiar with to assess if you would want to see them live.  What’s especially cool is the feature makes an exportable playlist featuring songs by both the artists you listen to who are touring nearby and the artists that Bandsintown recommends who have shows nearby during the same time span.  It’s a really fun app that complements both the Bandsintown and Spotify experiences.

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By David Ponte, Co-Founder of Audiomack

There I was, sitting in the dark, in the way back, watching all of these innovative and game-changing music tech companies receive accolades and celebrate each other’s milestones. My company’s headquarters was only a few blocks away from the Gramercy Theatre where the FlashFWD Awards were being held, but it seemed like it could have been a continent away (or let’s say, New Jersey).

My name is David Ponte and I am the Co-Founder of Audiomack, a music distribution website specifically tailored to help artists showcase and distribute their music. The site was conceptualized by myself and the Co-Founder/CEO, Dave Macli. Both of us are hip-hop fans and digital advertising folks.

Most of the music tech companies being celebrated at FlashFWD received millions of dollars in funding, had large teams of talented engineers focusing multiple hours a day on perfecting the product offering, and proven venture-capitalists guiding the vision of the company. All of these qualities are considered ‘sexy’ by the majority.

Audiomack has absolutely none of that. In fact, when we were approached by investors who were ready to arm the company with hundreds of thousands of dollars and priceless connections, we turned them down. Not because we don’t want funding, (we do!) but because we have an “old fashioned” view on what a business should be; one that doesn’t align with what most VCs have in mind.

We grew Audiomack with the intent to create a great product that people would enjoy AND to do so in a way that allows our founders to profit from it. Too often startups lose focus on this goal.  They end up taking investment from VC’s who are only interested in finding the next Instagram.  This puts them in a position where there are only two outcomes: either sustain hockey stick growth and get acquired, or crash and burn when the money runs out.

So how does Audiomack plan on making more than we spend? We’re already there. In May we earned more than 3 times what we spent. Super sexy!

Since the core expertise of our founders is in advertising, we take advantage of the convergence of brands and media. Brands are looking for engaged audiences and we believe people are most engaged by the artists they listen to. Armed with the knowledge that revenue from albums and songs isn’t what it used to be, we want to bridge the gap between brand advertisers and the musicians who fans follow.

For example, Nas, one of the greatest MCs of all time, released a song on our site recently and it was in response to J Cole’s, ‘Let Nas Down’ song off his Born Sinner album. Over 100,000 people played this song within a few hours. You can read more about the back-story here.

There are many brands that would have chomped at the bit to be involved in what was a momentous moment in music in 2013. Although this was a unique circumstance, artists release songs and albums on Audiomack every minute. The audience is already there, engaged.

If the music is free, or sponsored by a brand, then the artist can be paid by the sponsor to release the music with the brands message attached. The artist is happy they got paid to make music. The fans are happy because they received the music for free, and the brands are happy they reached an engaged, targeted audience unobtrusively. Not to mention, the Audiomack team is happy because we know we have built a sustainable, scalable, and profitable business.

Call us old fashioned, but we like it that way.

The post Sustainable, Scaleable & Profitable Business: Guest Post from David Ponte, Co-Founder of Audiomack appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Dana Sedgwick

You may have caught our post earlier this month on the unique sneak peak J Cole gave his fans for latest album, Born Sinner. The young MC caught our attention when he invited fans to listening sessions hosted all around the world, flash mob style, powered by a smartphone app that unlocked the tracks if you were at a certain place at a certain time.

That album’s first week sales are in and at 297,922 units moved (just under Kanye’s Yeezus, which totaled 328,800), the tech-enhanced hype surely couldn’t have hurt.

Well, the trend for unique marketing ploys and attention grabbing partnerships seems to only be gaining momentum… the latest example of course being Jay Z’s announcement that the release of Magna Carta Holy Grail will be hosted through Samsung. Users of various types of the Samsung Galaxy Phone would have first access to the album, with 1 million copies given away on the platform for free99.

The app was released Monday, full of plenty of tantalizing teasers and blacked out lyric lines… enough to keep us all guessing. Today, the enjoyable album hype frenzy was stirred a bit further with the release of the lyrics for a new song featuring Frank Ocean aptly titled “Oceans” (see below).

But this isn’t something new for Mr. Carter… in fact, his track record suggests that he thoroughly enjoys teasing the masses and is pretty well adjusted to unique marketing partnerships. Back in 2011, he partnered with Bing to bring to life a worldwide scavenger hunt in which every page from the memoir “Decoded” was placed in real-world locations.

As their blog explains, Bing provided the platform for a virtual game-like experience that translated into real world experiences:

“Bing Maps was a central grounding element in the Decoded marketing campaign. Visitors answered questions and then navigated through both aerial and StreetSide views to solve clues and discover pages. Decoded provided contextual geographical and subject-matter content, and Bing Maps provided the surface area in which to experience the game. Users learned to navigate Bing Maps views as they competed to win prizes.”

The campaign was celebrated for its deep level of interaction and engagement… even taking home several awards at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity.

You can see the influence of that campaign in the most recent addition to the Magna Carta craze – a scavenger hunt through the winding streets of Manhattan to find Jay Z’s publicist, Jana Fleishman, who held in her position only 60 black books which held the track listing for the upcoming album. So if you were wondering about all those wide eyed kids trading in their Sunday Funday for a frenzied run around lower Manhattan… mystery solved.

Image courtesy of NY Daily News

And just when you thought the pot was already in full boil, Jay’s turned up the heat further with the announcement of a surprise, public show atop the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater in Times Square on 7/6… pretty much the ultimate block party.

When J Cole announced his listening sessions, we asked: “Gimmick or Gold?”

With 20M from Samsung already paid and a nation that is literally crazed over blacked out lines of text… I believe we can go with gold on this one. Hats off.

Image courtesy of The Daily Swarm

The post Magna Carta Frenzy is Just the Latest from an Artist Who Understands Engaging Marketing appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Dana Sedgwick

The climate for music subscription services has never been more fertile. The options are growing more abundant: Rhapsody, MOG, Deezer, Spotify, Rdio, XBOX Music, Google Play Music All Access (still can’t believe that’s its actual name), Sony Music Unlimited and countless other radio and streaming services. And the environment has shown noticeable growth with more than 230M users currently on these non-traditional music subscription platforms.

The growth in music services’ volume of Google searches since 2004

To me, this resembles the NYC bodega mystery: there’s a tiny grocery on every corner of Manhattan and each offers pretty much the same thing. How do they ALL stay in business?

The truth for these music services is that not all of them will. But it’s far too early to be taking bets… while it’s true that this kind of music platform has been around even longer than the iTunes store, its exponential growth is demonstrative of a shifting consumer base that is empowered, hyper-connected and demanding.

To better understand how we got here, I sat down with Anu Kirk (Director of Music Services, Sony Network Entertainment). Kirk is pretty much the Yoda of this particular world. Part of a rock band in the late 90’s, he was a part of the team responsible for what was first conceived as the “Super Napster,” then called “Aladdin” (taming the music industry genie so to speak), and finally known as Rhapsody.

At Rhapsody for about 10 years, he then went on to build out the mobile space for MOG – designing and managing MOG’s award-winning iOS and Android apps.

If you look overtime at the major shifts in music consumption (physical to digital, digital to the cloud), Kirk’s always been ahead of the curve. Now, he’s hoping to do the same for Sony Music Unlimited.

We first spoke about a simpler time, 10 or so years ago: When the record labels hesitantly allowed a service like Rhapsody to use their catalogue for the low price of ten million, plus licensing fees… plus the cost of the actual music.

“We use to send interns to bargain bins to buy used CDs in bulk and then literally rip those CDs one by one into our library because the labels didn’t have digital catalogues and weren’t about to provide CDs for us.”

Kirk acknowledged that Rhapsody was a bit ahead of its time. In the early 00’s, consumers were getting used to iPods and making the transition from physical to digital. Owning a record collection (even though the records were now MP3s), felt more secure than what Rhapsody was selling… access.

But by 2010, advances in mobile technology began to change the game yet again.

“MOG came to me with the idea of making music listening social. They wanted to ease discovery by making sharing with friends more intuitive. They wanted radio, they wanted playlists, they wanted recommendations… but they wanted it all digital. I told them, it’s not enough. You need mobile.”

With less space on a mobile phone than on an iPod, the idea of owning a vast digital music library was suddenly awkward. MOG sought to enhance the online/offline experience by delivering a mobile functionality that favored access over storage.

We’ve also heard the anthem: Mobile is social, social is mobile. A mobile culture is one that demonstrates their taste not by what they own, but by what they share. Sharing is now a critical part of most listening services, which has partially helped to solve the next and potentially biggest challenge facing music listeners…

So I have access to billions of songs… what should I listen to?

That’s a big question that Sony Unlimited and many other platforms are trying to answer.

You could search for what you want…

Kirk: “With search, your best case scenario is: Yep, that’s what I wanted. It’s a pretty underwhelming experience.”

Better, you open up your service and to find options already waiting based on what you’ve said you like before.

Kirk: “I like to use the restaurant analogy. You walk into a deli, having no idea what you want … you take a look at the specials board and pow, Tuna Melt. That’s exactly what you wanted and you didn’t know it till then. Strangely enough, I think you’ll enjoy that sandwich even more because you weren’t anticipating it. That’s how a music service should be.”

Best, without asking, your service coordinates and curates your listening experience at all times. Basically, the restaurant knows you’re going to be hungry at a certain time and just sends the tuna melt straight to you.

This past weekend, the Wall Street Journal’s profile of Spotify CEO, Daniel Ek, reported:

“Mr. Ek thinks that the delivery of music will soon evolve to the point that we will not even have to decide what to listen to — our technology will simply know, depending on where we are.”

Kirk agrees: “We want Music Unlimited to have a personality, like a friend that gets to know you on a deeper level and has a POV.”

While he’s looking to the future and working on these advances, he’s also concerned about getting the small things done right, right now. Just yesterday, Music Unlimited announced an update to its iOS App with offline playback and high-quality audio. Music Unlimited boasts a licensed catalog of 20 million songs and the app will offer music in 320kbps AAC high fidelity audio while streaming… the best in the game.

Music Unlimited is also undercutting its competitors in price point – For a limited time, PlayStation Plus members can buy a 12-month premium subscription for $41.99, a cut of about 65% from the regular rate. Those without a PlayStation Plus membership can pay $60 for the same premium offering, a sum that’s about 50% lower than the industry standard.

And about that PlayStation incentive… we think it’s pointing to further integration between the Sony’s music service and gaming platform. Microsoft has already proven the benefit of getting their music service onto the XBOX and now on the web. But the living room is still a battleground for music services – Music Unlimited could be a major player with PlayStation.

Time will tell who is quicker to adapt to the growing need for better discovery features, a better online/offline experience, and an intuitive “personality.” The race has really just begun, but for Kirk, already knowing the bumps and divets of the track and field will likely make all the difference for Sony.

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