Music-on-Demand
From Isopedia
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The idea of Music-on-Demand is something neither recent nor totally new. In fact, although it has just had its real emergence, it is an idea which has its roots tracing back into the early 1990’s. This idea of being able to sit at home and access what might possibly be the biggest “jukebox in the universe” was first spawned by Bell Laboratories’ employee Ken Thompson. Now to us ordinary people, Ken Thompson may just be a name, but to the computer world Ken Thompson is most notably known as “the father of Unix,” one of the world’s top performing operation systems.
The idea of Music-on-Demand first struck Thompson in 1992 while sitting at his desk. It was at this exact moment that he thought, “wouldn’t it be good, if he could sit at home and use a computer to gain easier access to music - not just a limited selection, but almost everything recorded - and to arrange it in such a way that users could browse freely through the archives.” Following that moment Thompson decided to put his idea to the test and with just a little bit of collaborative help coming form Sean Dorward, a young programmer at Bell labs, Thomson accomplished what he had set out to do. Thomas managed to first rewrite the code for Fortran, a sound compression program, and then went on to arrange these music files on a massive storage system in the room next to his office. Using Thompson’s system one could now compress a music file to less than 8 percent of its original size and then efficiently store it on their computer.
Since Thomson’s discovery this idea of one being able to access a music database from thier computer, crossed-indexed by artist, date, and song title, and instantly hear the music come from their speakers has been long in the waiting. In recent years we have witness this technology flourish and expand utilizing new technologies. This technology can now most notably be witness through programs offered by AOL, Yahoo, Comcast, and Optimum.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
The Music-on-Demand phenomena is making it very easy for its customers to access hundreds of thousands of songs from anywhere for a minimal price. The providers are able to shrink the song files and fit many onto laser discs with access to anyone who signs up for that month.
Ken Thompson and his team of programmers at Bell Labs developed algorithms over the 1990s that would compress music files into eight percent of their actual size. The files are then put on to 12-inch laser discs that are capable of holding 300 Gbytes.
Some of the features offered by music-on-demand sites include:
- Hundreds of thousands of songs for a minimal monthly fee
- Access to the site's music library from any computer
- Powerful search engines that let customers find specific songs by artists or genre types in seconds
- AutoDJ (MusicMatch) feature where the customer picks out their favorite artists and the site generates a playlist customized to their liking
- The ability to share playlists with other users
- Streaming, commercial-free music videos
- Footage from private recording sessions (AOL Music on Demand)
Examples of music-on demand providers include:
- MusicMatch on Demand
- Yahoo Music Unlimited
- AOL Music on Demand
- Comcast on Demand
- Music Choice
REFERENCES
Wired Magazine
AOL Music on Demand
Comcast ON DEMAND
MusicMatch on Demand
Music Choice
Yahoo Music Unlimited
TEAM MEMBERS
- Tim Gozaloff
- Joseph Bajda
- Matt Kessler
- Brad Charette
