Transforming Digital Music: Investigating Interactive Playback

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The Transforming Digital Music research project is to develop a unique interactive music album format that could transform the way we listen to and engage with digital music. This innovative technology will allow users to manipulate and interact with music in ways that have not previously been possible, bringing new user experiences and opening a number of artistic and commercial opportunities for music artists and the entire music industry.Nowadays, music is predominantly consumed through digital platforms; however, the true artistic power of the digital playback medium has never been fully evaluated or exploited. Modern digital playback systems, including mobile devices, computers, tablets and networked hi-fi systems, are extremely over-engineered for simply playing music and audio. By utilising the full power of the modern digital music playback device, we hypothesise that a new and heightened level of engagement can be achieved, releasing greater opportunities of creative expression for the artist and an enhanced user experience for the listener. Exploration of this creative and transformative opportunity is essential in order to consolidate models that could reinvigorate the global music industry, which has experienced considerable turbulence since the introduction of web-based digital music. In particular, we wish to focus our investigation on the opportunities for popular music to be dynamic and interactive, whilst retaining and extrapolating the artistic vision of the musician. An example of interactive music is in the form of a song that can be listened to by the consumer in a number of different ways. The song might be an upbeat rock genre track including drums, guitars, vocals and maybe a string section. Consider, however, that the listener might want to enjoy to the song in a more relaxed manner - a unique experience based on the listener's mood at that moment. They might prefer to listen to a stripped down version, perhaps with the electric guitars replaced by acoustic versions, the drums become hand percussion and the strings take a more prominent role in the mix. It is still the same song, maintaining the artistry intended by the musician, but it has changed to give the listener a different experience. Similarly the listener might select an electronic version of the song, which dynamically introduces programmed drumbeats and synthesised sounds. Modern digital playback systems have the processing capability to perform the real-time rendering of multiple audio streams required to implement these interactive features.Additionally, in bringing digital interactive music systems to a wide and far reaching audience, it is necessary to consider the tools required for musicians, music producers and importantly, record labels to develop their own interactive music. Our project therefore explores and develops an operational paradigm and simple content management system to allow them to build bespoke interactive output from their own familiar musical material. In order to exemplify this feature set, an app will be developed. This app will serve as a working model that incorporates all of the above features, and will serve as a profile from which any future commercial development might be derived. Its release (for free) will demonstrate feasibility, and harvest consumer feedback and opinion.Our project is designed to amplify the NESTA-funded work of Dr Rob Toulson and Script Ltd, which focuses on identifying and evaluating new modes of engagement between popular artists and audiences. Our research objectives are focused on investigating two specific aspects of advanced digital music reproduction, i.e. what are the opportunities and capabilities of interactive music playback for 1)the artist (and record label) and 2)the music consumer or listener. By working in collaboration with a recognised music artist and music industry representatives, we will define and appraise this potential future of music release.