Anyone looking for signs of life in the music industry concerning technology and innovation should take a look into Music Hack Day. Since July 2009, in various cities around the world including London, Berlin, Boston and San Francisco, the 24-hour coding marathon serves as a experimental lab for new digital music applications and technology.

Initially organised by David Haynes of music listening platform Soundcloud and developer James Darling, the event brings together web developers and hackers who have a passion for music and building software. The term “hacker” implies a illegal operative who sits in a basement and breaks into computer systems. For the purposes of this event, it’s more a case of a collaborative community using open source software to make cool new apps with the help of APIs (application programming interfaces) from companies like Last.FM, Soundcloud, Songkick and more.

Haynes along with The Echo Nest’s Matthew Ogle gave a talk at South By Southwest where they discussed how “developers are crucial to the future of music”. They then demoed some of the fascinating applications that have come out of the 12 Music Hack Days so far which confirms just how vital developers are to music, whether for future applications or just for kicks:

Invisible Instruments

Proving that technology can replace physical instruments, this hack used a Nintendo Wii controller and an iPhone to accurately recreate violin, guitar, piano and more using hand gestures and air-guitar moves.

Bragging Rights

Settles the argument once and for all between mates about who heard your favourite band first. This hack takes Last.FM user data, your chosen artist and spits out a winner.

Six Degrees

Like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon find the links between any two artists.

Earth Destroyers

Find out how earth-friendly your favourite band’s touring schedule is.
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