SBIR Phase II: A Cloud-Enabled Digital Art Service for User-Generated Music

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop of a cloud-based, Internet service that facilitates a free and global exchange of user-generated music (UGM). A recent technological convergence of hardware, software, and the Internet has greatly reduced capital requirements for music production and distribution. The use of inexpensive production tools for music creation has reached a critical point and an opportunity now exists to facilitate a global, open, and free musical exchange directly between producer and consumer. Cloud computing offers the ability to facilitate this exchange in a highly scalable, capable, and cost efficient manner. Cloud computing also enables a cloud-based music consumption methodology which eliminates the consumer burdens of file management and backup while increasing accessibility. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the greater technological understanding of the robustness and cost efficiencies of media-driven, cloud computing application deployments, and a potentially extreme disruption of current music markets and music consumption methods. Music is deeply rooted in human nature and throughout our life experience. Over the past century, the economic activity surrounding recorded music was concentrated in a small number of companies. This Phase II project supports an innovation that spreads this economic activity more equitably and provides the consumer music with cloud convenience, the producer direct access to consumers, affiliates with expanded markets, and society with democratized music.