We’ve only just started exploring the potential of music on mobile phones. That might seem like an odd statement as playing and discovering music is well established on the phone. That’s not what I’m talking about. No, I’m suggesting that there’s huge untapped potential in creating music on phones.
The existing market for musical instruments is $17bn, and that’s divided between manufacturers in only six countries: USA, China, Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia and Korea. Can European companies start producing the tools needed to take a slice of that market?
The demand seems to be there. Some people are successfully using phones (and tablets) for performances. The DigiEnsemble Berlin is one example of a group pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with mobile phones. Their performance of Ombra Mai Fu is remarkable.
We are not short of pure music apps. There are apps for music composition and for music creation. However, individuals working alone don’t produce most music; that’s the preserve of groups. Few of those apps support groups of people working together– and that’s where I think the opportunity lies. People can, of course, gather and play in one place. How much greater is the potential for people to gather over the internet through connected apps?
The YouTube Symphony Orchestra has shown what is possible – now how can we make it easier? Can we provide the network services that allow people to easily sign in together and take part in a mobile jam session? This is a bandwidth-intensive task, where any lag or drop in connection will ruin the experience. Can we push this further, and allow the products of these sessions to be recorded, edited and shared?
Some may balk at this; music is an art rich with tradition and heritage. Nevertheless, it’s important to also recognise the role of innovation in keeping the art form vibrant. Look at how the rise of technology has allowed DJs to mix music with ever-greater sophistication. NAMM, the worldwide association that represents music product producers, states that its vision is to “envision a world in which the joy of making music is a precious element of daily living for everyone”. While some of its members may not embrace the idea, what could be better for that than using the phone in everybody’s pocket?
Beyond recreating current musical forms, there’s also potential for new forms of musical expression as processor power allows more real-time signal processing on the phone. There’s already a growing online culture around vocaloids, a form of synthesiser that creates vocal tracks, for example. While it’s most prominent in Japan, European artists like Mike Oldfield, always a digital innovator, have used it, too. Some companies have already engaged with similar ideas – but this is an area wide open for technical innovation, experimentation – and creativity.