Sonific launched an update to their website this week, that allows consumers to go beyond just being able to embed music into their blogs, MySpace and Facebook pages and to actually let them email the songs to people they know.
I tested out the email functionality earlier this week and had a lot of fun because I could find songs that either fit the personalities of my friends or songs that were comically related to topics we were discussing. When you email a song to someone, you give them your name, the email where you want it sent and a message to go along with the music. When your friend gets the email all they have to do is hit play and they can read your message while rocking out to the tune you selected.
I think that this is a big development for Sonific because it really makes the site much more appealling to a broader audience. According to a recent study, only 7.5% of all internet users actually run a blog compared to my own unscientific research, that 100% of all internet users have an email account.
Sonific is basically a different way for consumers to get access to music. They let you stream, on demand, any song from their catalog of 40,000 artists. This is much different then most internet radio that will only give you limited control over what you want to hear. The idea is that by not treating their customers like criminals, people might actually discover new bands and want to share them with their friends or buy an album to download.
While the site doesn’t have many of the top artists that have signed with the major studios, it does have a great collection of lesser known artists that are still fun to explore. There are also a few better known artists, who would rather share then try and squeeze their fans for a couple of extra nickels. Because the content can be a little obscure, by incorporating the email functionality right next to where you listen to the songs, it makes it all that much more convenient for people to share new bands with their friends, as soon as they find cool music.
I suspect that Forbes 9th richest fictional person would have a field day with the technology if he could ever figure out how to automate it, but if Prince Abakaliki of Nigeria ever finds the site, I’ve already found the perfect song for him to use in his emails, where he so generously allows others to help him disperse of his father’s fortune.