Lightspeed Launches JamNow – Free Music Collaboration Destination

Posted on Jun 5, 2007

Lightspeed Audio Labs Inc. has launched JamNow, a music cooperative that claims it’s the “first-of-its-kind destination where collaboration, entertainment and social networking intersect in a real-time music ecosystem.” JamNow provides a virtual studio and venue for musicians, jammers and fans alike to participate in the music-making process on a large and secure scale, where unique musical content is shared with others in real time.

The site should scream In Beta, because it’s pretty rough around the edges. The site doesn’t have a distinctive brand, and the design is “clunky,” at best. Lightspeed, has a lot of work to do to catch up so some of the other collaboration portals available now, but they do tout some dynamic features.

JamNow claims to have integrated community functionality into the music collaboration process, providing musicians with the ability to invite and communicate with friends, fans and other jammers. Unlike other services, artists now have the ability to talk with other musicians and their fans in live virtual sound rooms as if they were physically on stage or at a concert.

Musicians can use the portal to rehearse, promote events, perform a live event, maintain calendars, catalog all recordings, and much more. A suite of mixing controls provides the capability to master performances and make them available to be listened to or downloaded.

“When we created JamNow, our goal was to come up with a service that would change the way in which musicians, fans and record labels collaborate, create and distribute audio content,” explained Mark Malek, co-founder of Lightspeed Audio Labs. “What’s unique about JamNow is that it’s not just for professionals. The service is robust enough to be used by the most experienced musician, while at the same time easy enough for a garage-band to put on a live show over the web, interacting with all their friends and fans in real time. Best of all, it’s free – for players and listeners.” (Translation: they have no idea how they are going to make money. —Ed.)

The launch of JamNow, which runs through the summer of 2007, will initially target what Lightspeed executives are calling a “Rock Triangle” – a geographic area from Boston in the North, Charlotte in the South, and Milwaukee in the Midwest. Musicians anywhere within this triangle – whether in New York City, Detroit, Chicago, Nashville, or anywhere between – will be able to use the service to jam and perform. Additionally, fans outside the Rock Triangle will be able to listen to music available on the JamNow site. “JamNow will add additional regions to the beta beginning with the Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas areas during the summer of 2007.”

The Future: The revenue models for music collaboration sites, not just JamNow, are weak at best. JamNow should ditch the portal play and just create a plug’n’play module for MySpace and other social networking sites that will allow the users to perform in real time to their audiences.

More information on JamNow.