Comments: mp3 image tags
While I am a strong fan of the tangible, if you are going to have music being played to you on a computer, it only makes sense to have a slideshow like art available. I built a system a while ago (98 I think) with Matt and Ian and Niko that that was a bit kludgy but was fairly compelling - just got a 4 track tape recorder and embedded a 'control track' on one track and the stereo music on two more tracks. The control track then was used to 'hit' a key on a keyboard, and then javascript was used to use this keypress to move to a new url. By 'tagging' the artist's websites and fans websites in this fashion, a pretty nice 'slideshow' could be put together in 20 minutes or so. It was less perceptually agressive than a video, but visually engaging none-the-less. (In those days, the idea was that if you actually bought the music, then the control track would be embedded on the CD and would give you a visual experience for free. This was a bit before MP3s really took off, so maybe it was pre 98.). Anyway, I have been told that slideshow viewers are now de rigeur for mp3 players - but I have not actually tried any of them. Also, I like the idea of not so much seeing the 'right' slide show for a song - but instead being able to see a 'surfing experience' that goes along with the song.
Posted by mbolas at July 20, 2003 10:21 PM