iPods -- or can we call them iPodsicians?

January 21, 2006

iPods are no longer just basic MP3 players -- now they are portable musicians, or iPodsicians, too.

With portable media devices taking center stage -- literally -- the transformation of the iPod may slowly erode the landscape of traditional audio and visual stage performances.

The Chicago-based rock band Midstates found just that when Apple's video iPod was a stand-in for three-fifths of the band on a three-week tour.

As a stand-in for their keyboardist, a guitarist and a drummer, the iPod helped members Paul Heintz and Steve Munoz out of a bind last November when they would have otherwise had to cancel a booked tour with headliner Wheatus.

"The iPod ended up being the most important piece on the tour," Heintz said.

Their solution: record and mix down tracks while also videotaping drummer Angel Ledezma with a digital camera to project on stage. Then using a free online converter, the band converted the video and music recording of keyboardist Sasha and guitarist Dahlman into an iPod-compatible backing track.

Running the iPod through the board and video projector allowed Heintz and Munoz to play along with the tracks and video while at the same time controlling the order and volume of tracks from the stage.

"Kids from the smaller towns had never seen anything like this; they thought it was the most original thing they had seen," Heintz said. "Not so much in the bigger cities though. But people were really mesmerized."

Heintz hints the band is interested in doing it again especially if satellite was possible, allowing each member to perform from different locations and be projected onto a screen live.

"It'd be a neat idea," says Heintz, who says despite the stint with iPod, the band enjoys playing live together.

However, this phenomenon is nothing new.

DJs have seen the iPod as a convenient way to carry thousands of records to a gig with the addition of a fader and turntable, and the availability of iPod-specified mixing equipment has even surfaced.

Moreover, this trend has also given way to the emergence of iPod parties and iPod DJs, picking up some momentum a year ago in the United States and the United Kingdom.

iPod parties are gatherings of music-goers in which anyone can bring an iPod with tracks to play for a timed set, exposing a variety of music tastes to an audience.

In the United Kingdom the concept has piqued the interest of music-goers, even though it's still in its early stages, says Jonny Rocket, one of two coordinators and originators of the Playlist Club, http://www.playlist-club.com.

"People love the fact that they can turn up at a party and be participants, not observers, share their taste in public and find friends who think a bit like they do," he said.

Playlist has affiliated events worldwide, including in Paris and China and even in Philadelphia and hopes to have at least two more U.S. parties. And even though they have never played in big London halls, Rocket expects 70 to 100 attend any night with as many as 16 DJs, more or less, per event.

"These aren't parties about technology, but they are parties that use technology for what it is, a music delivery system," Rocket said. "As organizers we create the environment. Like every party, it's the people who create the vibe. We love the idea that we are using a personal technology to create a shared and public community."

As more music is available online along with the large capacity of space on an iPod, he says there is a potential for a huge rise in music consumption led by great music, great artists and personal recommendation.

However, he also insists fans of favorite artists will continue to buy music and videos recognizing the impact of file-sharing, despite the state of the music industry.

"I don't believe the music industry in its present form will exist in 10 years' time. It has to change," he said. "It can't on the one hand be preaching that file sharing is bad for artists, and then demanding artists accept low royalties relative to the cost of distribution in the digital age. It won't wash."

Instead he says, music consumers and artists will inevitably move toward a new tech-savvy industry model that will leave existing music entities depending on mass-market pop music, ringtones and back catalogues.

In addition, David Moskowitz, a professor of music history at the University of South Dakota, says the developing iPod culture is evolving with newer machines that can perform more functions as the ones stated above while continuing to set the standard for music portability.

He's not even surprised of the use of machines as part of a live stage performance, which has been overdue.

"From the development of multi-track recording in the 1940s, musicians have grappled with the issue of being able to record with members of a group in different locations," Moskowitz said. "With the new iPod's music and video features, the unit can be an active performer on stage and allow for spatial issues of the past to fall away. Is there anything wrong with that? I suppose that it is up to the individual audience member to decide if they feel cheated by only seeing 'half' of a live show."

According to Moskowitz, one of the most significant changes in the music industry over the past decade is new technology shifting the basic format of music distribution, saying music consumers are putting their money into the format they desire -- single and subscription services.

"Beginning in the late 1960s and into the 1970s, music was created and marketed in the full album format," he said. "That model has recently crumbled under the weight of the availability of singles on line. The current distribution model seems now to have returned to what was the norm before 1965: the single. The seeming death of the album has many in the music industry worried as it prevents the magnum opus such as Pink Floyd's The Wall, the Beatles Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, or the Who's Tommy."

Moreover, Moskowitz believes that the iPod and other portable media devices will likely eat up the market share of traditional CDs and Vinyl.

"The digital download and all of the pay-per-download services is changing the music industry on a daily basis," he said. "Sales by major labels continue to decrease at 6 to 7 percent per year while the number of songs obtained legally through the new Napster, iTunes, Rhapsody, and others soars to unprecedented levels."

In fact, according to a recent analysis of downloads from Internet research company Nielsen//NetRatings, iTunes visits climbed 241 percent in 2005, reaching 20.7 million unique visitors in December, up from 6.1 million in December 2004.

"Speculation of the music business is never easy," Moskowitz said. "For the past five years I have wondered out loud to all who would listen: why don't the major labels sell their songs directly from their own page instead of through middleman sites like iTunes or Napster? The end result of this is that the ostrich approach of keeping its head in the sand is not working for the industry."

Copyright 2006 by United Press International