Google Wave: how will it affect music?
Having just watched the 80 minute presentation introducing Google Wave, I must say that my mind is blown. If you haven’t watched the presentation or heard of it yet (it was introduced yesterday), Google is presenting Wave as an “online communication and collaboration tool.” With that said, watch the video and prepared to be stunned.
Imagine combining Facebook, email, instant messaging, threads, Twitter, Google Docs and Maps, and Wikipedia… all in the same application in a browser, and cranking it to eleven. But that description doesn’t do it justice, really.
So without toying with Wave yet (it’s not open to public testing), here are several reasons that I foresee Wave being important to the world of music:
Agencies will use Wave to communicate with the media, design press releases, and develop plans with record labels.
Artists will use Wave to plan tours, communicate with fans, edit riders with venues, and share media files. Since Wave will be fully functional on the iPhone, bands will be able to update their sites or track their latest waves while on the road.
Bloggers will use Wave to communicate with agencies, bands, and readers. Teams of writers will edit their articles in real time, and embed them onto their blog when it’s ready… and then communicate with their readers as people respond. I imagine that Google Wave will change the face of blogging in an unprecedented way.
Music consumers will be able to communicate with artists in new ways, share media with their friends, and find music news quickly. The translation tool will enable fans to chat with people across the world without a language barrier to stop them.
Once Wave applications are developed (developers have several months to get them ready), users will be able to add extensions and plugins to make Wave even more personalized and powerful. You can be sure that developers will create astonishing plugins that will integrate Last.fm or Hype Machine with Wave. This will bring new meaning to the share button.
While people have been talking about Twitter and Facebook changing the way people access information, this will REALLY change things. Artists, agencies and bloggers will all be striving to have an article, announcement or media file “hit the wave,” as it spreads quickly to millions of users, bringing a flood of traffic to their website. Wave will make media extremely viral.
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Puddlegum began in 1997 as one of the first online music magazines. It is managed by Flick, and has gained respect from many in the recording industry.
Over the years Puddlegum has accomplished quite a few things we are proud of:
Being mentioned by Thom Yorke during a BBC Radio interview (concerning our Tens Theory), and being written about in Rolling Stone. We have also made the front page of TUAW, Digg, and VH1’s Best Week Ever, and have been featured on USA Today, and Reuters.
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I think in its current form Google Wave could gradually begin to displace twitter and facebook as communications and networking tools for bands, fans, producers, writers, etc. However, I think we have yet to see the true capabilities of Wave and all the nichey things people could eventually write for it. I think if Google wanted to, they could create a serious distribution channel as well. They have all the pieces (google Wave, checkout, search, apps, groups, sites, blooger, etc.) to create a centralized, all-encompassing artist/fan/distribution/communication channel mashup. That could even begin to displace the larger record companies, myspace, artist sites, and even the itunes music store. Especially if Jobs is retiring soon. With apple lacking his leadership, it is not hard to imagine apple’s product development making some gaffes with software and hardware, making it easier for google’s android to get better footholds. Once android is a serious competitor to the iphone and has its own app store, the google music distribution system is the next logical step for them. I’m sure Wave will eventually develop a unified messaging system that can integrate seamlessly with the android phones. With Wave tying everything together like a nice, unpeed on rug, that makes google the must-go-to source for EVERYTHING. At which point the antitrust lawsuits start in earnest. Wave is a game changer for google and the users of digital communications. It is a foundational reboot of the way we look at people using technology to communicate and collaborate with each other. But it is just a foundation. What gets built on it will determine whether it succeeds or fails and what direction(s) it will go in if it does succeed. Fortunately, the future for Wave and what follows looks pretty rosy right now.
I could see that happening, especially with the way major labels are disgruntled with Apple. I thought I read that Google is distributing music files in China. Is this true? If so, it could be a testing ground for the Western world. I do see the potential with Wave, and I think the applications people will build for it will blow our minds.
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Aha, here’s my Google Wave; http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270463524732 Oh come on, all proceeds to charity! ^_^
I’m still waiting on my account. Would you mind sending me an invite?? Please?! flick@puddlegum.net
We at http://withwaves.com, believe google wave will serve as a platform for people to share and collaborate around music.
We have developed a music related gadget and robot that allows users to play and purchase mp3 songs and albums from the Amazon.com mp3 store.
Not only that but the Robot can detect conversation keywords and turned them into links when you’re talking about artisst, song and albums.
For those of you interested you can check it out at http://amazonmp3.withwaves.com , even if you don’t have google wave yet you can see videos of the robot and gadget in action
We just released an AmazonMP3Bot for Google Wave that recognizes music keywords in your conversation and presents links to listen to them on Amazon. It also comes with a gadget that allows you to listen to the music from right inside the wave. Check it out at http://withwaves.com/amazonmp3bot/
Excellent! I’ll check it out.
I think that Google Wave means a shif in thinking based on what is happening today. Do artists sell music? Or, does music sell artists? Traditionally the latter has been true.
But today it is reciprocal. Fans identify with atirst who inspire them. That trnscends music alone. An artists story becomes equally important to their content. In fact it becomes part of their contenet.