Project Description:
Everything to everyone - an exploration of active and passive listening experiences Music has long been governed by the consequences of its medium. In the age of radio, music was a type of read-only experience - listening was passive and linear. New digital technology has enabled a read/write culture to emerge. In this environment music can be an active experience, where listeners can modify recordings into something that is uniquely their own - adding their own voice to the conversation. But while new technology has created a wealth of new information, no corresponding leap has been made in the way we visualize and interact with music. This exhibit explores ways we can collaborate, visualize and create music in an online context. 'Everything to Everyone' presents users with a canvas-like environment where audio is arranged spatially. Embedded metadata (for example, pictures of the recording process, previous drafts of sections, and links to other material) allow listeners to explore the process behind different creative decisions (and inform the ones they will make). You can further explore by selecting individual tracks (for example, hearing only the drums or the vocal track) to see how each element fits into the larger work. Users form teams and use additional material to create their own mixes - they can add their work to the collection, and vote on the work others have made. By giving users new methods of collaborating and interacting with art, 'Everything to Everyone' presents a unique context for the online consumption of art, transforming the act of listening from a passive to an active experience.

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