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Interactive Music Players: Can They Change the Way We Listen to Music?

A software development company announces the release of an interactive music player that blurs the distinction between the musician and the listener. The player interacts with the listener to create music on the fly, one element at a time. The listener can add, change or remove different elements of music, all with drag-and-drop simplicity. No music experience is required.

Boston, MA, U.S.A. September 23, 2004 – SessionX, a Boston based software development company, has announced the release of an interactive music player that blurs the distinction between the musician and the listener.

The new player, titled Rave-X, interacts with the listener to create music on the fly, one element at a time. The listener can add, change or remove different elements of music, all with drag-and-drop simplicity. No music experience is required.

“It’s a little hard to explain, but it grows on you once you start playing around with it” says Mark Francis, a student at Boston University. Ever since SessionX released CoolSpool, the older brother of Rave-X, interactive music has become something of a buzzword in Boston’s lively college scene. In a couple of months, the SessionX website has reportedly served close to 1,000 trial downloads, with interactive players finding their way into parties, dorm rooms and fraternities.

“I’m very excited about this” enthuses Doruk Somunkiran, founder of SessionX. “As a musician I get to play with music like a kid plays with playdough. Musicians have been enjoying this technology for several years, but up to now it has not been available to the listeners. This is what we are trying to change.”

To say that interactive music is rewarding for the listener relates only half of the story. “The possibilities with interactive music are mind-bending” says Marjorie Twain, a Boston-based singer/songwriter. “If I could release a CD of interactive music today, instead of giving my listeners one single mix for each song, I would be able to include different possibilities that the listener could explore, almost like a movie in which the audience can add or take out some of the characters and change the ending. Nothing would be set in stone.”

“I sincerely believe this is how we should be listening to music in the future” agrees Doruk Somunkiran, and adds: “People should have their music their way, and now they have the technology to make it possible.” Only time will tell if the grand jury, made up of millions of music listeners all over the planet, will agree.