Jamglue: Mixed and Mashed

There is a brand-spanking-new online community, where you can listen to or mix music from a variety of sources. This website was just launched out of a private beta testing, which was obviously successful. The site’s functionality is very similar to SpliceMusic, but the user interface at Jamglue is more flexible and friendly. The site uses a Flash based mixing board and an XML file to allow data nesting, for a very flexible mixing capability. Beyond the bells and whistles, Jamglue allows users to play and remix one another’s creations in a very simple and functional interface.

“Remixing for the Masses”

Jamglue is simple enough for anyone to use, and provides advanced users a cool platform for collective creativity. The program has a super helpful tutorial, via drop down menu, which quickly guides you through the basics. The mixing interface at Jamglue allows you to add a large number of tracks to a single mix project. The tracks can be manipulated constantly while the user listens in real time to the new creation in progress.

Working inside the browser allows for stacking elements, while Jamglue controls enable adding, muting, volume, and placement operations simultaneously. Ultimately, you can combine and create an original mix, comprised of original or premixed origins, into your own music creation!

Advantages

Like Splicemusic, Jamglue mixes can be downloaded in mp3 format.

The community aspect of Jamglue gives the site great potential for growth, and the interactive nature of the site is really fun!

As I mentioned, the usability of the service is easy and simple for everyone (even I can do it). Help menus and user guides are well done, and navigation is really straightforward.

Finally, the relatively limitless upload/download capabilities make Jamglue a potentially powerful music capture, mix, remix and playback tool.

Disadvantages 

Jamglue’s greatest asset is also the site’s biggest drawback, in that serious audiophiles will want more sophisticated contols. Also, cueing of multiple tracks/elements in the mix window is relatively slow to load, and especially if there are many being utilized at once.

Another drawback at this point is the small size of the Jamglue community. There is not quite enough “on site” content to work with, but utilizing personal files can minimize this problem until more content is added.

Issues and Conclusions

Like other YCombinator Companies, Jamglue utilizes the Creative Commons license to seek copyright infringement protection. The site is pretty adamant about not using copyrighted material, but the delicacy of this subject virtually insures issues in the future. This is an entertaining, creative, and fun place to express your musical desire and aptitude.

The community atmosphere provides an added dimension, and I expect popularity to grow really quickly. Like many Web 2.0 companies, Jamglue represents a great potential for new ideas, connections, utility, and next generation thinking. We can only hope that community and external feedback will help propel these folks to continuously upgrade and modify this neat platform.

Finally, this new company exemplifies just what we are looking for in Web 2.0 applications. Ultimately, the path to a more organized, effective, and excellent Internet, is through innovative sites like Jamglue. The success or failure of these companies will be a function of input, modification, and the ultimate metamorphosis of these innovators. Perhaps one day we will all be mixing music at Jamglue to get that “perfect” combination of sounds that is “our” music preference!  

Check out the latest contest at Jamglue, where YOU get to remix a track from network recording artists The Submarines titled, Peace and Hate! You may win a prize!