Pioneering French music technology centre Ircam is finally arriving in Britain

Pioneering French music technology centre Ircam is finally arriving in Britain. Andrew Clements & composer Jonathan Harvey praise its radical spirit. Several digital techniques, which are taken for granted these days in electro-acoustic music, emerged from the Ircam lab in the first decade of its existence. It continues to come up with new techniques for extending the boundaries of a composer’s creativity. Several pieces heard regularly in the UK - rock and pop music and contemporary classical - use those innovations.

It has been over 20 years since Ircam showcased its activities in the UK. There was a series of concerts in the early 1980s devoted to its early achievements in London, conducted by Boulez. But it has greatly influenced the UK’s musical life far more than most music lovers realise. Jonathan Harvey was among the first British composers to conceive a piece using their hardware & software. He had mentioned: “I had conceived a desire for making an orchestra “speak”. The questions of why we’re the only species on the planet who speak, of how speech arose, of what role proto-speech plays - all these aspects informed my Ircam work. At Ircam, they’ve synthesised voices singing and, more importantly for me, speaking.”

British airlines can now apply for the wavelengths required to make calls ‘in the air’

Passengers who often are made to shout: “Hello! am on the plane!” could well join cramped legroom & bad food on the current list of in-flight annoyances since airlines moved closer to letting the usage of cell phones on board. Ofcom, the communications regulator, gave the go-ahead for British aircraft for installing systems, which will let passengers make calls as well as send text messages.

The go-ahead means that British airlines can now apply for the wavelengths that are required to make calls ‘in the air’. On-board base stations (picocells) that would be switched on - at a height of 10,000ft - will let licensed aircraft link up via satellite with mobile operators.

Air passengers would have to pay a roaming charge and would also be billed by their phone firms as normal. They would not be permitted to make use of their phones during take-off & landing, too. The airlines BMI & Ryanair, which are planning to install the new technology, welcomed the proposed move.

A couple of hurdles do remain. For example, other European regulators must still agree to the plan. However, Ryanair stated the majority of them had agreed. Also, the European Aviation Safety Agency needs to approve in-flight equipment for establishing the connectivity.

Users on mobile network 3 can watch music videos for free via their phones

Users on the mobile network 3 will now be able to watch music videos for no additional cost via their phones, after a deal in this regard with Sony BMG. The mobile network stated the deal through the Rhythm Media service, would greatly expand the firm’s advertising inventory following the advertising-funded video’s introduction in March last year. Videos from Mark Ronson, the Tings Tings and Alicia Keys will be indexed on 3’s popular music portal.

Viewers will get to see adverts of up to 20seconds before & after each song. These ads are targeted according to the gender and age of the customer. “The time is ideal for this kind of business model,” stated the head of portal advertising for 3, Neil Andrews. “Even a year ago there were some concerns in the industry about whether this kind of advertising would perform. But when we sell enough (ad) inventory, we are required to generate more impressions, and need compelling content to do that.”

The firm claims to have roughly 4 million UK customers. About 1.4 million of them make use of its video services. Andrews stated mobile video was not perceived as a niche or geek service by its customers, revealing that the operator happened to be the second largest retailer of ‘paid-for’ digital music after iTunes.

A new Podcasting software to access audio-visual content via Internet

Houston based Data Call Technologies Incorporation, announced that it has signed a letter of intent to acquire 100 per cent of Podcast Ready, Inc. (PRI), a private Delaware corporation, which deals in software & web services, allowing the aggregation and distribution of audio/video content directly to mobile and other devices.

Podcasting enables publishing audio/video programs via Internet, thus facilitating users to subscribe to useful, quality content, which is automatically downloaded for future usage in form of listening/viewing on portable media players, personal computers or cell phones.

Podcast Ready Inc. makes finding, managing as well as delivering podcasts - convenient for the end-user. A user can tune to podcasts on the web site or download them to their PC or MP3 player using Podcast Ready’s software.

This deal would surely strengthen Data Call’s present business strategy of expanding its products-services portfolio into fast growing markets, which are complimentary to those of Data Call’s current markets. The firm believes that the market for audio/video content offers great business opportunity. Data Call reinforces its long-term commitments to emerging new media markets through this deal.