Indaba Music
Encyclopedia
Indaba Music is a web-based company that provides a music collaboration environment for musicians: “a place to build a profile, promote their tunes and collaborate with other musicians” as well as enter opportunities like remixing and songwriting contests with popular artists. Indaba also has a mixing console that lets musicians edit their music in private and public sessions.
During the summer of 2010, Indaba launched the second version of their session console, named Mantis, which allows musicians to collaboratively record, edit, and mix tracks online. The relaunch coincided with a new library of Creative Commons
-licensed audio loops and sounds that Indaba solicited from its community.
Membership on Indaba Music is free, however Pro and Platinum levels are available and include increased storage and enhanced functionality.
is a Zulu word for community and collaboration and was chosen because the platform is designed as a way to meet new people and share ideas to create music. The founders came up with the idea for Indaba after starting a non-profit label while they were in college as a means to provide new opportunities for student artists and give them greater exposure. The key to Indaba Music's popularity and success is said to be based on two ideas: that the internet has helped artists and fans connect in a more intimate way, and that the spread of cheaper, higher-quality digital music production software and hardware has enabled virtually anyone to create quality music productions.
The session owner can search for other users to join the session by using metadata such as influences, crafts, instruments and the types of collaborations they are interested in participating in (paid only, etc.). Similarly, members can search for sessions to join by entering information about the types of sessions they are interested in participating in.
Remix contests and sessions for artists like Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), The Crystal Method, and Carmen and Camille are creating new material that is often licensed under Creative Commons.
Indaba Music has been noted in the press for collaborations with popular artists including John Legend
, Rivers Cuomo
, Mariah Carey
, Third Eye Blind
, and Yo-Yo Ma
. During these collaborations, users can access the stems from songs of these artists without paying for licensing. Time Magazine's website featured a video with cellist Yo-Yo Ma
in which he discusses many of his duets including his duet contest hosted by Indaba Music. Rivers Cuomo of Weezer was quoted in an article in July 2009, stating: “It’s [Indaba Music] like a simplified version of any of these complex professional recording programs that no one like me knows how to use,” said Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, who agreed to endorse the program although he says he normally refuses such requests. “It’s going to open the door for a giant population of musicians out there.”
Assorted Press and Music/Tech Coverage
Interviews
Overview
The company's website is both a social network and suite of collaboration technologies for musicians. The site makes it possible for musicians in different places to find each other and make music online. Indaba also launches remix contests with prominent artists including Weezer, Peter Gabriel, Snoop Dogg, and Linkin Park.During the summer of 2010, Indaba launched the second version of their session console, named Mantis, which allows musicians to collaboratively record, edit, and mix tracks online. The relaunch coincided with a new library of Creative Commons
Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, United States devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has released several copyright-licenses known as Creative Commons...
-licensed audio loops and sounds that Indaba solicited from its community.
Membership on Indaba Music is free, however Pro and Platinum levels are available and include increased storage and enhanced functionality.
History
Indaba was founded in 2005. Indaba's website, www.indabamusic.com, was launched in February 2007. IndabaIndaba
An indaba is an important conference held by the izinDuna of the Zulu and Xhosa peoples of South Africa. These indabas may include only the izinDuna of a particular community or may be held with representatives of other communities.The term comes from a Zulu...
is a Zulu word for community and collaboration and was chosen because the platform is designed as a way to meet new people and share ideas to create music. The founders came up with the idea for Indaba after starting a non-profit label while they were in college as a means to provide new opportunities for student artists and give them greater exposure. The key to Indaba Music's popularity and success is said to be based on two ideas: that the internet has helped artists and fans connect in a more intimate way, and that the spread of cheaper, higher-quality digital music production software and hardware has enabled virtually anyone to create quality music productions.
Profiles and Search
Indaba users have profiles that describe their background, tastes, and interests (meet people, collaborate online, get hired, gig/jam offline, etc.). Featured sessions and a search function allow users to find each other. Messaging and comment boards are available for communication.Sessions
Any musician can start a session and invite members of the Indaba community to join. A session provides musicians with a space and platform to collaborate with others. Members of a session can upload and download tracks, as well as do basic editing and mixing with the Indaba online console. Communication is possible through messages, a discussion board dialogue, a live chat feature and a conference call hosted by Indaba. Sessions can be public (open to anyone in the community) or private (only open to those invited).The session owner can search for other users to join the session by using metadata such as influences, crafts, instruments and the types of collaborations they are interested in participating in (paid only, etc.). Similarly, members can search for sessions to join by entering information about the types of sessions they are interested in participating in.
In-Song Commenting
When a user selects a track on Indaba, a music player pops up on the bottom of the screen. The music player displays a waveform and members have the ability to comment along the waveform in order to refer to specific moments in time. Members use this feature both to give feedback to other musicians as well as to make comments on their own tracks such as "still working on these harmonies" or to mark key and time changes.Recommendations
Using a technology from EchoNest (an audio company out of MIT Media Labs), Indaba recommends its musicians to one another based on their listed skill levels, influences, instruments, location, and previously recorded content.Creative Commons License
When Indaba members upload tracks to an Indaba session, they can choose to reserve all rights, OR they can select a Creative Commons license for the track. The Creative Commons license they choose determines how other musicians on the site are allowed to creatively use their music. This may, for example, mean that artists are allowed to creatively use another work as long as it is not used commercially or that a musician may use another work but only in its original form.Remix contests and sessions for artists like Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), The Crystal Method, and Carmen and Camille are creating new material that is often licensed under Creative Commons.
Assorted Press
Artist CollaborationsIndaba Music has been noted in the press for collaborations with popular artists including John Legend
John Legend
John Roger Stephens , better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American singer, musician, and actor. He is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.Prior to the release of his debut album, Stephens' career...
, Rivers Cuomo
Rivers Cuomo
Rivers Cuomo is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, lead guitarist, and principal songwriter of the alternative rock band Weezer. Raised in an Ashram in Connecticut, Cuomo moved to Los Angeles at age 19, where he participated in a number of rock bands before founding Weezer in 1992...
, Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
, Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind is an American alternative rock band formed in the early 1990s in San Francisco. The songwriting duo of Kevin Cadogan and Stephan Jenkins signed the band's first major label recording contract with Elektra records in 1996 resulting in two multi platinum albums. The band's lineup...
, and Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
. During these collaborations, users can access the stems from songs of these artists without paying for licensing. Time Magazine's website featured a video with cellist Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
in which he discusses many of his duets including his duet contest hosted by Indaba Music. Rivers Cuomo of Weezer was quoted in an article in July 2009, stating: “It’s [Indaba Music] like a simplified version of any of these complex professional recording programs that no one like me knows how to use,” said Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, who agreed to endorse the program although he says he normally refuses such requests. “It’s going to open the door for a giant population of musicians out there.”
Assorted Press and Music/Tech Coverage
- Wired Magazine
- Ars TechnicaArs TechnicaArs Technica is a technology news and information website created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, science, technology policy, and video games. Ars Technica is known for its features, long articles that go...
- Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
- Business Week
- Washington Post
- MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
- Rolling Stone Magazine Online
Interviews
- Billboard Magazine
- Colbert Report
- NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
- ABC NewsABC NewsABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
See also
- Internet bandInternet bandAn Internet band is a musical group whose members collaborate online through broadband by utilizing a content management system and local digital audio workstations...
- CrowdsourcingCrowdsourcingCrowdsourcing is the act of sourcing tasks traditionally performed by specific individuals to a group of people or community through an open call....
- CollaborationCollaborationCollaboration is working together to achieve a goal. It is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals, — for example, an intriguing endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing...
- Social commerceSocial commerceSocial commerce is a subset of electronic commerce that involves using social media, online media that supports social interaction and user contributions, to assist in the online buying and selling of products and services....
- Web 2.0Web 2.0The term Web 2.0 is associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web...