SF MusicTech Summit Report

Still absorbing everything from the latest SF MusicTech Summit, this past Monday. This is my second one, and they have been great experiences. For those who have no idea what the hell I’m talking about, here’s the description from their website:

The SF MusicTech Summit brings together visionaries in the music/technology space, along with the best and brightest developers, entrepreneurs, investors, service providers, journalists, musicians and organizations who work with them at the convergence of culture and commerce. We meet to discuss the evolving music/business/technology ecosystem in a proactive, conducive to dealmaking environment.

I met lots of wonderful people working in diverse parts of what collectively can be called the music industry. It’s a big place and there are many areas that do not otherwise get the chance to randomly connect. I was caught by surprise by a question about it later that night.. “so was there new equipment to check out?” My answer of “No, it’s not the AES” was not too helpful. Nothing to buy. Nothing physical being demoed. These are the people working in the music industry getting together and talking about where it is all going, especially in terms of how various changing technologies affect it (not always just computers and more specifically the internet-which ‘technology has become synonymous with’-but it was often that.) It’s no joke that many in the music industry feel a bit like the character Ronald Craven in the first act of Edge of Darkness right now. Still, there was lots of hope and energy and direction, even in the face of the ‘pennies received for play’, as was often cited.

I confess I did not pre-plan for this event as thoroughly as I had planned to do, you know, checking out each attendee to target and network with. But I had full faith in the workings of chance that I would find the right people to talk to. I’m pretty sure I did OK in the end. My big planning time sink was Dave Allen, with his epic post Dear Musicians – Please Be Brilliant or Get Out of The Way. Dave had made a bit of an impression at the SF MusicTech session in May by pretty much eviscerating a fellow panel member, so all eyes were on him this time ’round (confirmed in several pre-panel conversations). Strangely, the panel he was on this time ’round that was dedicated to social media was very happy friendly.

It was great to re-connect with people I met at the last Summit, like former fellow Albany, New York person (and former member of the Silver Jews) Chris Stroffolino, who has some exciting local-centric (to Oakland) label plans underway; and, Michael Fiebach who is behind much of the goings on with the well-executed new website of DJ Shadow. New to me at this conference were the fine work from FanMail (an event sponsor), Wyndstorm (Social Media Architects, just down the road from Wow Cool. Literally) and the Valerie Orth Band.

It’s always great to meet someone passionately involved in music that is on a totally different path from yourself. That’s something I almost count on this event for. In this case it was two iPhone App developers.

I first encountered Shane Vitarana in the line to the buffet table at the after-summit cocktail party. Shane is the creator of the Drum Kit App for the iPhone, and he knows his drums, I am sure, as he did not blink as I deluged him with stories about John French and Jaki Liebezeit. We geeked on drums in general for a bit, until the olives were within grasp. Shane also shared the bit of brilliance he had to format his business card to have the look of the iPhone itself, complete with the contact layout on one side and his app’s display on the other (follow Shane on Twitter).

Shortly after I met Shane, I met Tom Scharfeld. Tom is the greatest evangelist the trombone has ever had. He is the developer of iBone. It took much persistent digging at Tom for me to really appreciate what a great thing he had accomplished. Brass instruments are the one great total gray area to me. Trombone even more so. After much thought and talking to Tom, I came to appreciate what he accomplished. iBone models what it is like to play a trombone, but on an iPhone. Tom used his own samples of himself playing the instrument and the depiction of the trombone is his own. He also did all the programming. If you think of the fluidity of the transitions of tone in the trombone – like the theremin or a fretless bass – then what he has accomplished (although, some cheats to get there were admitted) is remarkable. This is a massive, and maybe, even, groundbreaking, effort.

Oh, yeah… that is Tom and Shane in the photo above… left to right.

Much love to Brian and Shoshana Zisk for making this magical event happen.

There are just three more photos from the event (and a bunch from the one in May) up on flickr.

To be continued…