MyVirtualBand.com Takes Open Source Music to the Next Level

New website promotes online songwriting collaboration through "virtual bands."

(PRWEB) December 17, 2004 -- MyVirtualBand.com, http://www.myvirtualband.com, has launched a new service that allows musicians to write and record songs over the internet through "virtual bands." By swapping recorded audio tracks of original instrument and vocal parts, MyVirtualBand.com projects are created from the ground up as open source, continually evolving songs with an emphasis on online collaboration.

"Our target audience includes your average weekend warrior musician or recording hobbyist who maybe doesn't have time to be in a band, or has a great guitar riff but can't sing or play drums," says Co-Founder Scott Mason. "Of course all musicians, even professionals, are encouraged to use our service. We're hoping that well-known artists who endorse the 'open source music' philosophy will participate and help advance the movement."

To keep the music "open," MyVirtualBand.com invokes a Creative Commons license (http://www.creativecommons.org), allowing visitors of the site to freely copy, distribute, display and perform the music, similar to the concept of open source software. But the analogy to open source software extends beyond the freedom to make use of the music. "Because songs are created on an individual track basis (an 'individual track' would be a mic'd drum kit, for example) users really do have access to the 'source' of the music, similar to subroutines in software," says Co-Founder Kelly Senecal. "Other musicians can modify, improve or add to the source without worrying about obtaining permission from the original artists." The founders are confident that there is a large community of musicians of all levels who will embrace this new resource as a creative outlet and collaboration engine. "It really is songwriting for the digital age," says Mason. "A musician in Stockholm, Sweden could be helping an artist in Wichita, Kansas write his next hit record!"

About MyVirtualBand.com: MyVirtualBand.com was founded in 2004 by long-time friends Scott Mason and Kelly Senecal. Scott and Kelly collaborated on various musical projects while both living in Madison, WI. When Scott moved to California in 2000, however, they lacked the tools to work on songs together from different states. This motivated the creation of MyVirtualBand.com, a web portal that allows Scott and Kelly, as well as all other registered members, to collaborate through "virtual bands."

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