The Rise of the Music Creative Class

In Richard Florida’s book, The Rise of the Creative Class, he makes the observation that creativity has become the driving force of economic growth in America. We are very aware of that fact at Open Labs, as we sell to and support professional artists, producers and musical directors. However, we have seen a major shift in music creation and performance during the past two years. The desire to create and perform has become mainstream.

Identifying the specific drivers of this musical surge is challenging. Although, the wide consumer use of games like Guitar Hero and applications such as Garage Band are surely part of the equation. Additionally, the popularity of televised talent shows American Idol, The Voice and X Factor have increased interest in music creation and performance.

It is much easier to identify the fact that music creation and performance has become mainstream with business successes. Companies like TuneCore, Bandcamp, CD Baby and Reverb Nation have become multimillion dollar companies servicing the new music creators with outlets to market and sell their music. SoundCloud, an audio sharing and collaboration company, has increased it’s customer base from one million users to eight million users in the past eighteen months as the music creative class wants to share their music and work with others regardless of geographies.

Open Labs has received feedback from many of the new music creative class and the feedback has been consistent. They want music creation and performance to become easier and less expensive. Check back next week to see how we are addressing the desires of this market.

Open Labs Announces Release of Open RiFF 2.0

From the Live Music Capital of the World, Austin, Texas, Open Labs, the recognized leader in innovative, computer-based Music Production Stations, is pleased to announce its first major software upgrade to its VST Live Host – Open RiFF 2.0.

This release of Riff 2.0 follows closely behind the launch of Open Labs’ newest Musical Production Stations, Gen6. As one of the three key elements of the Open Labs Musical Operating Environment, Open RiFF 2.0 offers all users increased functionality, ease of use and simplicity of work flow over the previous version, RiFF 1.3.

With Open RiFF 2.0, Open Labs users now have a familiar, search based sound browser which allows users to browse and audition sounds more easily. Using a singular search window, the thousands of sounds found in the Open Labs NeKo and MiKo lines can be identified by musical instrument, musical genre or familiar nicknames.

Along with this increased functionality, there has been a significant improvement in Midi control, which allows for ease of use in both live performance and with the stage control of instruments.

Nick O’ Toole, film composer and Tour Relations Director for Open Labs said, “Finally a VST host that allows Midi information to flow out to other devices. This kind of functionality has been a long-time coming for Production Stations. Being able to send and receive Midi information, including program change information and having control on a song-by-song, patch-by-patch basis is incredibly helpful for guys with complex systems on tour or in the studio. The artists have asked for this kind of functionality and Open Labs has delivered it.”

Open RiFF 2.0 also offers one-touch performance, which will allow Open Labs users to record Midi tracks in more of a simplistic manner. At the same time, the user does not need to have use an external mouse or keyboard to manipulate Open RiFF 2.0.

Open RiFF 2.0 will be included in all Gen6 Music Production Stations. For all 2010 A-Stock purchases, Open RiFF 2.0 will be available at no charge. For all 2010 B-Stock Purchases, Open RiFF 2.0 can be purchased for $29.99. For Open Labs users with Gen5 Music Production Stations, Open RiFF 2.0 can be purchased for $49.99. For any Open Labs users with Gen4 and older Production Stations, Open RiFF 2.0 can be purchased for $99. Detailed information about Open RiFF 2.0 is available at www.openlabs.com/openriff.

A live demonstration will be available on Open Labs’ live Ustream webcast, Thursday, June 10th, 2010 from 5:00pm-6:00pm, CST. The webcast can be viewed at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/openlabs.

Positive Press for Gen6!

Read what others think about the new Open Labs Gen6 products!
If you see press that isn’t on this list, please forward it to press AT openlabs.com.

http://musicindustrynewswire.com/2010/05/19/min3023_220826.php

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/new-product-alert/494562-open-labs-unveil-gen6-newest-line-products.html

http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/75400

http://lawontherow.com/2010/05/19/music-biz-news-open-labs-announces-new/

http://www.hispasonic.com/noticias/open-labs-presenta-sexta-generacion-workstation-neko-miko-14804

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/2010/05/21/new-open-labs-production-stations/

http://news.hitsquad.com/OtherGear/Open_Labs_unveil_the_newest_line_of_products_Gen6

http://en.audiofanzine.com/misc-computer/open-labs/generation6/news/a.play,n.6793.html

http://rapbeatsonline.info/how-to-get-into-the-music-industry/open-labs-announces-new-gen6-and-q-series-pc-powered-keyboard-workstations/

http://massmediacontent.com/2010/05/19/MMC3388_220826.php

http://www.gearjunkies.com/news_info.php?news_id=5117&PHPSESSID=94f2fbf6ba57e909359acd4d26fe8685

http://www.samplepoolz.com/?q=aggregator&page=1

http://www.audiopronews.ro/2010/05/open-labs-unveil-the-newest-line-of-products-gen6/

http://futuremusic.com/blog/

http://audiobusters.com/news/station-de-travail-workstation/nouvelle-gamme-de-produits-chez-open-labs-la-gen6

http://delicious.com/OpenLabs

http://digg.com/music/Open_Labs_Unveil_Gen6_the_Newest_Line_of_Products

http://openlabs.ning.com/profiles/blogs/open-labs-unveil-gen6-the

http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/OpenLabs/

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=58022979&blogId=534610322

http://www.openlabs.com/blog/?p=1011

PRESS RELEASE: Open Labs Unveil Gen6; the Newest Line of Products

Open Labs, a recognized leader in innovative Music Production Stations based in Austin, Texas, debuted their newest line of Production Stations today, Generation6. The Gen6 lineup includes the Gen6 MiKo QC6, the Gen6 NeKo QX6, the Gen6 MiKo LXD and the Gen6 NeKo XXL. The entire new Gen6 product line offers more power, more sounds and is more affordable.

All products in the Gen6 lineup feature processors from the 2010 Intel® CoreTM processor family and are based on Microsoft’s Windows 7 for true Open Platform Capability. The Q series lineup includes the MiKo QC6 and the NeKo QX6, which offer over 10,000 sounds, full DAW capabilities, a 15” touch screen interface, DVD/CD burning and internet capability and a 37 or 61 keyboard form factor.

The L series lineup, which are the pinnacle of Music Production Stations, include the MiKo LXD and the NeKo XXL. Both production stations offer over 15,000 sounds, full DAW capabilities, a 15” touch screen interface, DVD/CD burning and internet capability and a 37 or 61 keyboard form factor. The L series offers incredible control over production with the Alpha 2 controller, the bankable Mix Edit and the drum pad interface Bump MP. The NeKo XXL also raises the bar in audio by offering 24bit/192khz recording.

“We are very excited to be launching the most powerful Musical Production Stations we’ve ever produced,” said Victor Wong, Chairman and Co-Founder, Open Labs, “with our migration to Windows 7 we have spent months testing and retesting our proprietary software products as well as the most popular third party software and hardware products. We can assure our customers the same level of musical flexibility that they have grown to expect in our Production Stations and with our new offerings we can expand in ways which we have never been able to before now.

“Our software offerings will continue to flourish and our platforms will grow more robust with each release. This is a major transition for Open Labs and our ability to serve our customers and their musical aspirations,” said Wong.

The Q series Open Labs Music Production Stations come with Open Labs Gold Support Services which include: a one-hour “Get to Know Your Machine” session, two hours of technical training and warranty for parts and labor for one year. The L Series come with Open Labs Platinum Support Services which include the same level of Support Services as Gold Support in addition to seven hours of technical training.

The Gen6 MiKo QC6 is available for $3,799 USD and the Gen6 NeKo QX6 is available for $3,999 USD. The Gen6 MiKo LXD is available for $4,799 USD and the Gen6 NeKo XXL is available for $6,999 USD. All Open Labs production stations can be purchased directly through Open Labs at http://www.openlabs.com or through an authorized reseller listed on the Open Labs web site.

About Open Labs

Headquartered in Austin, Texas — at the crossroads of music and technology– Open Labs develops and markets cutting-edge studio and musical instrument technology. Since 2003, Open Labs has been the recognized leader in providing musicians and producers of all genres, with high-performance portable instruments that combine all the equipment found in a professional music studio with unsurpassed live performance capabilities. A-List artists currently using Open Labs products include: Timbaland, Jonathan Davis (Korn), Morris Hayes (Prince), Jesse Carmichael (Maroon 5) and Jimmy Nichols (Faith Hill) to name a few. For more information on Open Labs, please visit http://www.openlabs.com.

Post your music on YouTube and get paid?!

Ok, so these OK Go guys aren’t going to win Internet Emmy’s for this video, but they’re musicians so we’ll cut them some slack.

The big point here is that YouTube has launched a program to pay musicians based on the number of views they get for their videos. If you were going to put your videos up on YouTube for promotional purposes anyway, you might as well get paid too, right?

Check it out!

YouTube’s MUSICIANS WANTED program!