Free or inexpensive music on the internet is an interesting business. How can you make things free while maintaining legality? These companies present their case.
Josh LowensohnFormer Senior Writer
Josh Lowensohn joined CNET in 2006 and now covers Apple. Before that, Josh wrote about everything from new Web start-ups, to remote-controlled robots that watch your house. Prior to joining CNET, Josh covered breaking video game news, as well as reviewing game software. His current console favorite is the Xbox 360.
This morning's presenters on music at today's Under the Radar conference are probably one of the most interesting groups. A few months ago, it would have been just another pitch session, but in light of radio silence day just a few days ago, music on the internet is a big deal--especially what happens to it when RIAA royalty rate increases go into effect next month.
iLike is a social network mixed up with online music. This morning they talked about their Facebook app, along with their integration with Apple's iTunes. iLike's CEO Ali Partovi considers Facebook's F8 apps platform "the greatest paradigm shift in computing since Windows." iLike's Facebook app currently has over 4 million users, which is 4x the amount of users the site had prior to the F8 launch.
MOG is one of the neater music tools out there. You download a small application that integrates with your music jukebox software and connects you with others who share similar tastes. Founder and CEO of MOG David Hyman confirmed the team was working on an app for Facebook that will provide music recommendations based on what your Facebook friends are listening to.
ReverbNation is a syndication and tracking service that lets bands and content creators keep track of where music is going and how often it's being listened to. They tell you which songs are the most popular, along with how long people are listening to them. Artists can then look at that information and figure out what's working. The system works a little bit like Widgetbox's metrics tools with a hint of grassroots focus groups. Some of this functionality is already built into MySpace's music player, which keeps track of how many plays songs have gotten, along with people who have downloaded.
SpliceMusic.com calls itself the "the biggest legal free music label." It's a mix between a stock music service, and a place to create your own tracks. SpliceMusic has a nifty Web based sound synthesizer and creation tool that lets people work together to make new sounds and tracks. It's reminiscent of Apple's Garageband. SpliceMusic keeps track of this content and where it's going around the internet. It also gives users a community with ratings, comments and user profiles.
Stay tuned for more Under the Radar coverage. Coming up later today we'll have presentations on games, power tools, virtual worlds, and internet TV. To see all the Under the Radar posts from today, just bookmark this link.. You can also check out our live Webcam feed.
