New Year’s Eve 2011 is almost here, and what with the seemingly unending economic recession, it looks like most of the young and hip set will be welcoming the New Year at some friend’s party. This alternative is budget friendly and, in earnest, often proves to be the most fun: you get to spend fun times with the people closest to you, the music you like and get to choose and relatively inexpensive alcohol. However, even though it’s 2011, house parties often get mired in the following scenario. Several people have a ‘great idea’ for a song, all at the same time, huddle over the computer, then spend the rest of the evening arguing over why someone or another interrupted someone else’s favorite track with their own musical choice. The solution to such a conundrum comes under the guise of Spartify, an application that can replace the most sophisticated DJ equipment with virtually any smartphone.
Who Came up with It?
Spartify, an application to revolutionize DJ equipment as we know it, was premiered at this year’s Music Hack Day Boston. It was created by Andreas Blixt and Ricardo Vice Santos based on data from The Echo Nest API, which has been used (and will most definitely continue to be used) for building new and innovative applications starting from the Spotify database. The web-based app, which is not platform specific and can be run both over 3G as well as Wi-Fi, was built over no more than twenty-four hours at Music Hack Day in Boston. It does tend to get a bit sluggish over 3G, but works nonetheless, and definitely sidesteps having to appease your friends as they try to “one-up” each other at your party. Of course, there are still tweaks and improvements in order, as the app tends to glitch at times. For instance, there have been cases when the gap between songs seemed to prolong into infinity. Additionally, the party host has no way of removing a given song from the play list, in case they simply don’t want to listen to it.
How Does It Work?
All you need to do is access Spartify via any laptop, desktop computer or mobile device with Internet access. Create a party, then issue party tickets and send them out to all those who want to make use of this brand new kind of DJ equipment. Aspiring amateur DJs will then queue up their requests via iPhone, Blackberry or any other smartphone. The songs will go on playing without those fifteen Youtube or Grooveshark tabs open on your laptop or PC. Once there are no more requests, the system will choose songs on its own, based on similarity criteria from the EchoNest API. The premium version is recommended, as the basic features audio adds that might put a damper on the party mood. Additionally, the developers hope to come up with integration methods for Facebook and Twitter as soon as possible – after all, there’s no better place to get the party started than social media platforms.
Guest Author: Paul Estcott
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