I was in class this evening listening to a lecture from an IT Director discussing about new web technology and how the purpose of IT is supposed to change processes. So often I think most people associate Internet Technology with being the hardware of software sitting in their office or studio. Most IT professionals however see it as a new way to do something, not as the "thing" in and of itself, but rather how it is done.
I got to thinking during this presentation that it probably won't be long until we see Microsoft Office and programs like it being available completely online. Why bother downloading and installing the office software when instead you can simply open it up online, type what you need to and then instantly save, email or process the file?
Then I was suddenly struck with the idea of how cool this would be for music production. Think about this for a moment. In a music program like Fruity Loops, Cubase or even Logic, how much space does that program actually take up? From quickly looking around at different music programs, their sizes are generally only between 4-20mb. That can certainly be loaded through a web-browser online. Most of that file size is actually GUI.
Most of the file size in project files is taken up by wave audio information and when you comparatively look at these project files they really are not all that large. Maybe 10-20Mb themselves.
Imagine for a moment now a web service that puts all of this together. This service online could allow the user to create music completely inside the web browser. Take Apple's .mac online storage system and expand it to allow the user to upload their own sample libraries and plug-ins. Imagine then even that freeware samples and plug-ins could be stored in a general "Commons" for all users to use.
This system would create some really unique benefits. For one, software and hardware restrictions would largely not longer be considered a big issue for most users. The CPU load would be destributed to the service's computers, not the end users. Software upgrades for the software could be extremely cheap and efficient. Even rendering tracks can be extremely fast because the rendering load could be handed off to a rendering farm rather then having the user's cpu do it.
This process I would imagine could also make music collaborations extremely easy. Users could interact in real time to work on a project making sure they both have the same software and sample libraries. Everything would be seamless.
As Web2.0 continues to develop I see the need for hard drives continue to decline as online storage and database systems continue to develop. As a music composer I no longer would need to carry a laptop to the studio to make sure I had the correct software, plug-ins and sounds. I could simply load my project file onto a flash drive, take it to any internet connected computer in the world and plug it in to load my project file and continue my song. Depending on the project this project file could be anything from the traditional project file that we see now, allowing for even offline usage, or perhaps just a security key for me to access my online account.
Someday I think we are inevitably going to see a system develop just like this, and the people who jump on it first are going to be the ones that make the big bucks.
Tags:
web2.0 online music software
