Webware

Aviary is great at making advanced Web-based artists' tools that I haven't a hope of being able to fully use. Case in point, the new audio editor, Myna, that joins the company's suite of graphics tools like the Phoenix image editor and the Raven vector editor.

I have dabbled a bit in GarageBand and I do some of my own podcast production work, so I get the concept in Myna, although I'm far from skilled at editing audio. The app is a multitrack audio editor, and for a Web-based app it's freakishly capable. It's easy and fast to pop clips and loops into tracks, drag them around, apply standard effects and fades, and then mix the whole thing down so you can download it as one file.

Myna comes with a library of riffs from Quantum Tracks that can be used noncommercially, and a few sound effects from other sources. You can upload your clips to the service as well, and record directly from your computer. However, Aviary co-founder Michael Galpert warns that there are limits: You can only lay in 10 tracks, and total playing time has to be under five minutes. Galpert says this is due to limitations in Flash, but that Aviary may find ways around them in the future. The technology comes from Digimix, which Aviary acquired earlier this year.

Just because I can, doesn't mean I should be editing music. But Myna does make it easy.

(Credit: Screenshot by Rafe Needleman/CNET)

Myna is a "hobbyist's tool now," Galpert admits, but he also says there are pro-level features coming in future releases. I found GarageBand more capable, but Myna is more approachable.

I was surprised to see Aviary get into the audio-tool business after creating its first five apps, which are for handling graphics. But Galpert says, "an artist is an artist," and he wants to make tools that let creative people work across media, or to create remixes.

Myna is a free app. It's impressive and it's a ton of fun. It might even be useful.

Aviary won the Webware 100 Technical Achievement award in 2009.

Correction 11:45 a.m. PDT: This story incorrectly described the licensing terms of the content from Quantum Tracks. The riffs are for noncommercial use.

There's no lack of music instruction online. Sites like iVideoSongs and Internet-connected applications such as Garage Band, can tailor music instruction right down to the specific genre, song, and instrument of your choice. The trouble is, they don't actually show you how to make a great recording.

If you're more interested in how to use side-chain audio compression in Logic, than how to how to play "Stairway to Heaven," WinkSound.com is worth a look. The site design is a little rough, but the video tutorials are helpful and clearly organized into relevant topics (Garage Band, Beat Making, Ableton Live).

Nearly all of WinkSound's video content is user-generated, with much of it collected from sites such as YouTube. It's also worth noting that there's a definite emphasis on electronic, pop, and hip-hop music production, although you'll also find generally applicable video tutorials on subjects like recording acoustic drum sets or best practices for mixing in ProTools.

If you're new to using recording software, WinkSound isn't going to replace the value of a well-written manual, but it's a handy resource for peeking into other people's studios and cribbing a few techniques.

WinkSound puts some of the latest and greatest tutorials on the front page, in a giant video and image wall.

(Credit: CNET)

(Credit: HearPlanet)

As I made my way around Vancouver, B.C., last week on a business trip and admired the futuristic high-rises and sweeping vistas of ocean and mountains I felt curious--and lost. I wanted to know what the buildings and landmarks were and why they were so striking.

My questions could easily have been answered with the HearPlanet Premium iPhone app. The new version of the "talking tour guide" mobile program, released publicly on Thursday, includes an integrated, interactive map and human voices, in addition to the computer-generated audio.

The HearPlanet Premium app, available for download from the App Store for $5.99, provides text and spoken descriptions for nearly 250,000 points of interest in locations around the world. A free version also is available.

The interface is fairly intuitive, allowing you to type in options to search on "what" and "where." The default is set to the location of the phone and offers a list of items in the vicinity, with thumbnail images and locations on a map.

You can click on the map view to see the items displayed as pushpins and use a pinch-together or pull-apart technique to zoom in and pan out, as well as move the map around with your finger. It's easy to navigate through various content items by toggling between them either in the list view or on the map.

In addition to the computerized audio, HearPlanet has created its own audio descriptions with human readers and has partners that provide additional content. The readings provided by San Francisco Sightseeing Tours, for instance, really lend that feel of hearing it from a tour guide. You can also click a link to visit the content partner's Web site or even to book a reservation on a real-world tour.

You have the ability to read or listen to the descriptions while simultaneously using the map. HearPlanet also allows you to save on power by shutting off the screen with the power button while still playing the audio.

I found the descriptions very informative, detailed, and comprehensive. For instance, I learned that Grouse Mountain, where I went while I was in Vancouver, is a small but well-known ski area overlooking Vancouver to the north. I only needed to type in "Grouse Mountain" when I did my search, and picked the Vancouver mountain (as opposed to the Grouse Mountain located in California).

The map took a little while to display for Grouse Mountain, but was quick when I searched for "Vancouver." That listing offered a variety of options for descriptions. I chose to listen to the information under "architecture and cityscape" and learned that the skyscrapers are positioned in such a way as to preserve mountain views for other buildings because of city guidelines that require that.

I did another test for points of interest in my location in downtown San Francisco south of Market and learned that the monstrosity of a high-rise that arose to obscure my view of the Transamerica Pyramid Building while I was on vacation in August 2007 was expected to take 22 months to complete. Unfortunately, that fact is correct--looking out my window I can vouch that it is done.

On the HearPlanet iPhone app you can search for "what" or "where" and see results in a list view or on the map.

(Credit: HearPlanet)

HearPlanet Premium includes an interactive map that allows you to toggle between items by clicking on the pushpins.

(Credit: HearPlanet)

Google's radio advertising business has become the newest project that didn't pass muster in Google's new financially rigorous era, and up to 40 employees will lose jobs as a result, the company said Thursday. However, the company isn't completely withdrawing from the market, saying it's begun exploring ads for streaming audio instead.

"While we've devoted substantial resources to developing these products and learned a lot along the way, we haven't had the impact we hoped for. So we have decided to exit the broadcast radio business and focus our efforts in online streaming audio," said Susan Wojcicki, Google's vice president of product management, in a blog post Thursday. "We will phase out the existing Google Audio Ads and AdSense for Audio products and plan to sell the Google Radio Automation business, the software that automates broadcast radio programming."

And cuts will come: "We hope to find other roles for the majority of the people concerned and will work to make that happen over the next couple of months. However, given that we are exiting the broadcast radio ad business and selling the Radio Automation business, we expect that up to 40 people may not be able to find other roles at Google."

Google said employees will have about two months to apply for new jobs within the company. The service itself will shut down May 31.

The search giant has more than 20,000 employees, so losing 40 isn't very many in the scheme of things. However, it's bigger than the full staff of a lot of start-ups, and the cut is notable given Google's willingness for years to tackle an immense spectrum of projects.

Google already said it's cancelling its print-ad service, which like radio is a step away from the Internet domain where Google has the home-field advantage over some rivals. The company will continue to invest in its TV ad business, though, Wojcicki said.

As expected, iStockphoto launched its audio clip licensing service, called iStockaudio, on Wednesday.

The move marks another expansion for a site that pioneered the "microstock" business of inexpensive, royalty-free image licensing over the Internet. The company, acquired by stock art power Getty Images in 2006, also offers video, Flash animations, and vector illustrations.

iStock Chief Executive Bruce Livingstone announced the availability of the audio licensing Wednesday in a blog posting. The company has been accumulating audio clips over the last year, and now 10,000 are available.

"You can use our iStock tracks as many times as you like, wherever you like," Livingstone said. "Our tracks include public performance, synchronization, and mechanical licenses."

That means there are constraints on audio contributors, though, who may not be members of various professional organizations.

"iStockphoto has used reasonable efforts to ensure that the suppliers of audio content are not members of any performing rights, mechanical rights or any other similar societies (such as SOCAN, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, PRS, MCPS, SACEM, SDRM, JASLAC, GEMA, etc.) and that no performing rights or other royalties are required to be paid to any such organizations," according to the iStockaudio license agreement.

When a customer licenses an audio clip--the noise of smashing glass or a background melody, for example--the company shares a percentage of the revenue with the contributor of the clip. Licensing fees range from 2 credits for a basic, simple clip to 25 credits for a long, elaborate one; credit costs range from $18 for 12 to $1,900 for 2,000.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--iStockphoto, which helped pioneer the "microstock" market for inexpensive, royalty-free imagery, plans to launch an audio-licensing business Wednesday.

The Getty Images subsidiary already offers photography, illustrations, Flash animations, and video. iStockaudio was a natural extension--one the company's customers had sought, iStock Chief Executive Bruce Livingstone said in a speech here at the User-Generated Content Conference and Expo.

iStockphoto CEO and founder Bruce Livingstone

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET Networks)

"We're introducing iStockaudio on Wednesday this week," Livingstone said. The company announced the iStockaudio plan last May, but the actual arrival was delayed by a suddenly necessary overhaul to the site's search system, he said.

Initially, the audio service--think background music or the sound of a shattering window--will be available through public beta testing. Interface changes are possible before the final launch, scheduled for the South by Southwest conference that begins March 13.

So far, there are about 10,000 audio clips at the site, Chief Operating Officer Kelly Thompson said in an interview. "There's a lot of pent-up demand," he added.

Disruptive
iStockphoto, and the microstock industry in general, is an example of what can be done to harness the power of large numbers of people. Many in the traditional stock art business have been displeased that a bunch of amateurs willing to see their work sold for less than $1 a pop are eroding their business. But the hard economic reality is that microstock companies have put images on the market from photographers who are good enough to sell a few images now and again, even if not good enough--or devoted enough--to quit their day jobs.

iStockphoto now has about 65,000 photographers contributing to the site. Because Getty Images went private last year, the company won't reveal its 2008 financial results. The results were better, though, than in 2007, when the company garnered $71 million in revenue and paid contributors more than $21 million for their work.

The company is, of course, a technological phenomenon. It uses the Internet not only to connect large numbers of buyers and sellers, but also to help them view and distribute digital photography. "When iStock really started to take off is when the Canon Rebel came out," making it "affordable to shoot really good digital," Livingstone said.

Getty Images, which has a more traditional rights-managed image-licensing business, has a program to try to recruit new photographers from Yahoo's Flickr photo-sharing site, a partnership Livingstone helped set up.

Ups and downs
Thompson and Livingstone shared some of the ups and downs of their business' history at the conference. The lesson for companies such as iStockphoto that rely on user-generated content: pay close attention to what users and customers are asking for. They were asking for video, for example, and that now accounts for 10 percent of the subsidiary's revenue.

iStockphoto plans to launch its new audio clip-licensing site Wednesday.

(Credit: iStockphoto)

The flip side is launching something people haven't asked for. Livingstone had the iStock Forumeter idea, for example. It let people label forum contributors as grouchy crabs, helpful superheroes, comedic clowns, and unconstructive trolls.

"The problem with this is, the community didn't ask for it, didn't want it, and it was too accurate," Livingstone said. "People didn't really want to know how they were seen in the forums. It was a flop. We got rid of it in about 30 days."

Another bad idea: the Buy Request program for setting up custom photography shoots. In the company's core business, "99.99 percent of our sales are done unassisted. This little brainchild was the exact opposite. We had to help customers 99.99 percent of the time. It just didn't work," Thompson said.

The company also has struggled to keep up with growth of its computing infrastructure.

"It's important to be wrong as often as you are right, as long as you learn from the mistakes," Livingstone said. And when things go wrong, it's important to tell your users you're sorry. "Sometimes, the community needs to hear you acknowledge that there was a problem and apologize for it."

Once, the site went down after a truck cut the fiber line to the company's headquarters in Calgary, Alberta. "We did manage to get a check out of the company that supplied the fiber optics. Instead of keeping it, we decided to disburse to the community--the people who would have sold photos. It wasn't a lot--maybe $45,000--but I think people really appreciated the gesture," Livingstone said.

Growth strains
"Mostly, we plan for a reasonable amount of growth. Too much bandwidth is costly, but not enough is a disaster, and we know," Thompson said. "Early in our life, we got a bit behind the curve, and it was tough to catch up."

The company pushes what the MySQL database software can do, but this year, it concluded that it just couldn't handle the site's search operation. So in what was something of an emergency, it rewrote it in the C programming language.

"Our search was failing. We had to put everything on hold, surgically extract search from our Web site, and put it back in," Livingstone said.

Now, though, instead of 30 overtaxed search servers, the company has a single machine handling the chore, with four backup machines to handle potential problems.

The company hopes that new software called Dexter, which lets customers license images directly without using the Web site, will offer further help. A Mac OS X version is in private testing with people who license many images now, and a version running on Adobe's AIR software foundation is under development.

Personalized Web radio service Pandora has added 15-second audio advertisements that will occasionally play between songs.

The company's official Twitter feed first announced the inclusion of ads, saying Pandora will be "extremely respectful of your listening experience" while promising "to be prudent."

So far, the ads have been used sparingly. Pandora's founder and chief strategy officer, Tim Westergren, told PressDemocrat.com in an interview that the average user will hear an ad only once every two hours, but the company is experimenting to see what works.

Pandora has experimented with audio advertising in the past. In early 2007, the service placed a 9-second McDonald's ad between songs the first time users changed stations. Each user heard the ad just once per day.

Asking for reaction, Pandora's chief technical officer, Tom Conrad, announced in a blog post on the company's site that users were generally upset with their decision to deploy audio ads.

"The reactions ran the gamut, from muted concern to strong condemnation," Conrad wrote. "Other listeners left comments on our blog, or contributed to posts discussing the ad on other blogs. The reactions in these other forums also expressed a variety of perspectives on the issue. Generally, though, there was fear that Pandora could become overwhelmed with intrusive audio advertising."

Subsequent to that experiment, Pandora removed all audio advertising from the site.

Now that audio ads are back, Pandora said in another Twitter update that those who wish to not hear any audio advertisements can sign up for Pandora's premium membership for $36 per year.

Mixwit, one of my personal favorites for creating and sharing hosted mix tapes, is calling it quits next week.

Starting December 27, the site will no longer serve up streaming music tracks, with embedded mixes--like the one at the end of this post.

The company made the announcement last week, but just began to send out notices to registered users. Normally a week or so is cutting it close in the world of site closures, but in Mixwit's case there's very little in the way of user data besides playlists.

Mixwit is the latest Web mixtape service to shutter its doors. Muxtape, which allowed people to upload tracks, shut itself down after "bureaucracy" from the Recording Industry Association of America led founder Justin Ouelette to put the site on hold until a better solution could be found.

Michael Christoff and Radley Marx, the co-founders of Mixwit, say they're contemplating donating Mixwit's source code to the OpenTape project, which would let anyone host their own Mixwit-like mixtape despite the site no longer hosting the required resources.

Below I've put together a quick compilation of songs, which took just a few minutes. I'm definitely sad to see the site go, although I'm glad some of its features have the potential of ending up in future builds of the OpenTape project.

PodTech, a video podcast network that had taken over $7 million in venture funding, has been sold--and the price may have been a downright embarrassing $500,000.

The news was reported this week by Eric Eldon at VentureBeat, but Valleywag's Jackson West was floating the rumor with less detail last week. And Fake Steve Jobs jumped the gun a little bit by declaring the company dead last October.

The buyer is the Los Angeles-based ViewPartner, a "communications technology company" that seems to only produce Google results about the fact that it bought PodTech. And while no financial specifics were named in the release, VentureBeat reported that the price was around $500,000. Ouch.

PodTech's woes had been very public as high-profile employees started leaving: marketer Jeremiah Owyang, who became an analyst at Forrester; blogger Robert Scoble, essentially the face of the company; and even CEO John Furrier. It was reportedly out of money, despite having raised a $5.5 million venture round and then another $2 million from U.S. Ventures and Venrock.

The rough economy is making it a shaky ride for many start-ups, but PodTech may have suffered from additional problems: the niche of "podcasting" didn't play out the way many expected it to, instead blending into Web video and audio content alongside far more traditional programming. While a few podcasters have become stars, the "top podcast" charts at the iTunes store look a whole lot more like big media: NPR, Comedy Central, and um, the Jonas Brothers.

Not quite up PodTech's alley.