The commercialisation of interactive music

The listener can experience the music based on their mood or preference, while also exploring a deeper creative vision of the artist than can be achieved with conventional playback platforms, which in turn brings a new and innovative commercial proposition.

The AHRC have now awarded a further £90k follow-on-funding for impact and engagement. The Principal Investigator is LCM’s Associate Professor of Music Technology, Justin Paterson with Co-Investigator Prof. Rob Toulson of the University of Westminster.

Both are experienced researchers, music producers and software developers. They have now teamed up with major record label, Warner Music Group (WMG) to launch the app with three high-profile artists from its roster, and WMG will use its global leverage to promote the format.

WMG plan to release high-profile artists from various genres - names to be confirmed in due course. Therefore, this new project will maximise the impact of the previous research and reach huge worldwide audiences, bringing them the ability to shape the sound of their favourite artists while simultaneously offering the artists a new mode of deeper engagement with their fans.

The technology also provides the record company with data on how users respond to the variPlay format. If the bulk of listeners appear to prefer acoustic versions of a given song, future artist development and marketing can react to this in a way never previously possible, thus unlocking career development opportunities for the artist and future monetisation.

The original research concluded with a pilot app-release by the artist Daisy and The Dark; the Red Planet EP. This follow-on project involves taking the technological 'shell' of that app and repopulating it with the music, images, and text of the new WMG artists. The three releases are targeted to different sections of the consumer demographic to explore which audiences best respond to such a format, and indeed the associated pricing. This approach will inform future releases.

The funding also supports launch events that will draw in the media and help publicise the new releases to further increase public awareness and impact.

The project will culminate in the creation of a sustainable business model for variPlay, attracting further commercial funding and later forming a spin-out company to precipitate further releases. Therefore, this project will define a transformational digital business-model that might reinvigorate the global music industry.

AHRC funds world-class, independent researchers in a wide range of subjects: ancient history, modern dance, archaeology, digital content, philosophy, English literature, design, the creative and performing arts, and much more.

This financial year the AHRC will spend approximately £98m to fund research and postgraduate training in collaboration with a number of partners. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.

For further information on the AHRC, please visit their website.