Highlights from SF Music Hack Day, 2013

This was the 4th time Music Hack Day visited San Francisco.
Music Hack Day visited San Francisco for the 4th time since 2009.

This past weekend, close to 200 music tech enthusiasts packed the lofty office space of TokBox, in the SOMA district, to build the future of music apps at SF Music Hack Day.

Participants were given 24 hours and 19 different APIs to pick and choose from including the likes of Mashery, Spotify, Rdio, Twilio, and Gracenote (who just opened their APIs and SDKs to developers for the very first time on Saturday, the 16th).

The results came in the form of some truly inspiring hacks that were creative, entertaining, and might even change the future musical landscape for the better. While covering all 60 demos that were slotted into 2-minute time frames would be exhausting and, ultimately, counterproductive, I do recommend you check out all of the project proposals on the Hacker League page.

In the meantime, here are 6 hacks I enjoyed for their ingenuity, usefulness, or both.

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Why you should attend SF MusicTech Summit, Music Hack Day, and Music Startup Academy

This February, make something happen with all the right resources.

“We should start our own group; I’m not sure what the title would be but it has to encompass the fact that we are some of the few, the brave, that have attended every single SF MusicTech Summit in existence.” That’s basically what my friends, Scott Schiller, Jordan Harband, and I were joking about as we basked in the sun flooding Japantown’s mall courtyard during lunch break at the last event in September. Continue reading “Why you should attend SF MusicTech Summit, Music Hack Day, and Music Startup Academy”

Win a Pass to SF MusicTech Summit #8

A few updates: First, R.I.P. Max Matthews. You will be missed. Second, I will extend this contest to Friday, April 29th as the first Musica Tecnomica 2.0 in a long while is taking place on Thursday the 28th.

Here we go again…another contest! For those of you not yet familiar with the event, SF MusicTech Summit was created by Brian and Shoshanna Zisk several years back to help music business professionals keep apace in an industry that is notorious for rapidly transforming, innovating, and developing tools for the development and distribution of music. What initially started out as a local gathering has gradually evolved into the third most renowned music and tech event in the world (behind MIDEM and, of course, SXSW).

I’ve already covered reasons why I think you should attend SF MusicTech Summit and this recent Fast Company interview gives even more insight into its benefits plus other projects Brian’s been involved with for the greater good of the community. Luckily, two free conference passes (one per online publication) are up for grabs here and through my own personal blog, karaemurphy.me. Read on to learn more about what to expect as an attendee and how you can potentially win…

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