From The Next Web’s Ernst-Jan Pfauth (Music Community Koblo Needs to Show Some Soul), a music editing software that I didn’t know about. Koblo has apparently been around for a long time (1998). But the Denmark-based company, Aarthus, is now bundling a recently enriched version of their software within a new social network, where musicians and bands can meet up, share their tracks, and talk.
Of course, anyone who’s done anything with music, such as listening to it, knows that the experience is social. Think of all those Beatles and Monkeys fan clubs. But music makers have also long been meeting and sharing online, playing their music and selling their old instruments. What’s interesting to me about Koblo is that they are connecting the actual music-making with the community.
A similar service, which has been around for a time, is Berlin-based Hobnox. It is also a music community with a music-making tool. But their music software is web-based, further connecting the music with the community, nearly becoming one.
This really isn’t instructional. But it is another example of community generating content for the community.
Can’t wait to get to my hotel room and play!
Hobnox is a toy, no musician will ever use it on stage or to create a full on track.
Koblo’s tools are geared towards musicians who need tools and don’t have hundreds of dollars to buy them, or do, and find that they didn’t need all that stuff that they were told they needed by the Guitar Center guy.
A community isn’t built by having toys on the web. A community is built by artists supporting each other, and those artists getting support from listeners. This also means listeners buying CDs and songs – something that barely happens on myspace – and everyone thinks that Myspace is a community. Not so. It’s a giant store with a million people selling things and no one buying.
A true music community will give tools to musicians and listeners that they can use, and in turn those artists and listeners will put time, energy and creativity back into the community, especially if they are actually seeing input, and not just “hey dude, I wanna be your friend on myspace”, or “check out this little loop I made on a flash toy”.
Toys are fun – but unless they’re being circuit bent, they don’t lead to real music creation.
IMHO, of course ;p
This is the first time I’ve heard about Koblo. I still find Audacity hard to dump.