Nowadays, market competes to show new innovations and technologies, that will make our life easier, whereas the industry will become more efficient and profitable. Unsurprisingly, the work is also being done to satisfy customers reaching for more entertainment. We all love the experience of listening to music. Thanks to the modern technology, this experience can be enhanced. IoT, along with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is one such technology that is helping the music industry to make the user experience even more prolific.
Although the production of music, in its basis, has remained the same (songwriting, arrangement, tracking, editing and finally mixing and mastering), the process itself has evolved significantly over the years. Since early 2000s, pop music was starting to dominate over other music genres like rock, folk or R’n’B. Along with the pop sound, a trend of using more electronic effects on instruments or vocals became viral. These days, there are basically no limits to what can be used in the studio. Not only the production process has developed, but also changes are visible in a music distribution. Streaming becomes more popular, than physical copies of music, therefore music platforms are working to make their appliances more attractive and well-developed. That lead to a development of the IoT technologies within the industry, which found an interesting use.
One of the interesting examples of IoT use in a music industry is an interactive exhibition, The Universal Orchestra, that was launched by Google in 2012-2013. Google has allowed to play physical instruments online, by making a remote music performance (networked music performance). The process allows a real-time interaction over a computer network.
Developing this technology enables musicians from different remote locations to perform together, as if they were performing in the same room. Further research is being done to enhance the experience of live stage performances, for example involving some backing vocalists or featured artists from any place on the Earth.
Another IoT application is used for remote recording. Being able to record while being at home or in a different studios became truly important for musicians, especially during the COVID pandemic. A video conference software, e.g., Ohm Studio, has been developed, to produce new music remotely.
Another step, still needing some work and research, is remote live mixing. Although there are many different applications, offering advanced mixing, none of them, for now, allows remote mixing. Developing new innovations would be a great addition, allowing specialists to work remotely.
A very interesting technology is being developed in collaboration by designing a smart vibrating shirt, that not only can intensify the experience of listening to music, but also, most importantly, it may allow experiencing the rhythm of music to deaf people.
Lastly, IoT technology has found its use for wearable devices during concerts. This innovation was pushed to music industry in 2015, during a tour of Taylor Swift, where every participant was given a LED bracelet using infrared technology, being in sync with the music.
IoT-NGIN project aims at developing next generation IoT systems. The developments in IoT-NGIN are being tested in different living labs by introducing different use cases. We are looking forward to seeing how music industry can introduce new IoT innovations to increase our experience.
References
[1] https://www.analyticssteps.com/blogs/iot-music-industry.
[2] https://www.allerin.com/blog/giving-the-music-industry-a-new-voice-with-iot
[2] https://www.loopmasters.com/articles/3500-Music-and-The-Internet-of-Things