STAT - September 10th, 2018
We most often think about music production and sound design when watching a dramatic film, listening to an artist’s new release or even playing our favorite video games. However, now there seems to be a niche market recruiting sound engineers and artists to produce sounds for the medical place. Yoko K. Sen is an ambient electronic musician who was asked by Medtronic to redesign the soundscape of their medical machines. The most popular scene that comes to mind when thinking of a hospital room consists of white sheets, harsh lights, a plethora of monitors and an incessant beeping in the background. Yoko K. Sen’s task was to accurately communicate a patient’s condition in a way that was less abrasive to the patient's ears. If you are interested in hearing these tones, visit: (https://www.statnews.com/2018/09/10/medtronic-musician-redesign-heart-monitors-beeps/) or click on heading of this entry.
Engadget - September 7th, 2018
In the rapidly changing world full of social media, it is difficult to tell what types of platforms and advancements will be made in the future. However, Twitter and Periscope have just developed a new way to share information on their platforms using live audio broadcasts. This feature is strikingly similar to Instagram’s live video broadcast, but it still has the potential to become a new source of creativity for artists, bloggers, radio hosts or anyone with something to say. Time will tell if this new feature will sink or swim with today’s current audience.
Hypebot - September 6th, 2018
Music streaming platform, Primephonic, has recently released a new platform exclusively for classical music listeners. Many popular platforms, such as Spotify, offer a plethora of diverse genres that the complexity of the classical music genre becomes oversimplified and overlooked. Primephonic offers a solution to this problem by giving users a streamlined search engine designed with the listener in mind. The service allows listeners to sift through the many recordings of a single piece, identify multiple movements within the same work, sort through classical works by time period and composer and so much more. This is truly the perfect service for avid listeners of classical music.
Music Industry Blog - September 6th, 2018
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In the realm of music streaming services, it is obvious that music was created long before technology. However, an article from the Music Industry Blog discusses the massive influence that streaming services have on the way music is distributed, heard, and even made. Instead of traveling to the nearest record shop and listening through an entire a record, listeners now have access to pre-organized playlists straight from their computers. Not only is this changing the way an audience perceives music, but it also impacts the way artists are producing and releasing their music. Instead of producing a full length record weaved with musical direction, artists are focusing on how to appeal to an audience with stand-alone singles. It is undeniable that Spotify playlists are changing the way that music is being created and heard. However, who is benefiting the most from this change, the creators or the listeners?
Music Business Worldwide - September 5th, 2018
There is absolutely no security blanket to be found in the music tech industry. This article from Music Business Worldwide discusses the successes and terminal failures of multimedia platforms, Musical.ly, Vine and Soundcloud. Once upon a time, these platforms maintained a fruitful fan base and were responsible for the success and fame of many users. However, due to a lack of proper business management, these platforms were left in the dust by industry giants. Much of these companies’ demise was a result of not understanding their audience, failing to attend to their needs, failing to facilitate growth in a changing market, and a lack of dialog with their greatest influencers. Perhaps, the tombstones of these companies will serve as warning signs for future businesses.
