The Clever Way Libraries Are Staying Relevant In This Digital Age
Preston Austin and Kelly Hiser developed MUSICat software so that libraries could engage with their local communities through their own music streaming platform repositories.
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According to Vice, Libraries are now hosting an all-new streaming platform as an alternative to Spotify! They are offering music from local artists. This movement started taking place in Madison County, Wisconsin by Preston Austin and Kelly Hiser. They helped form Yahara Music Library in their public library.
This new online library was developed alongside a prototype software called MUSICat, which originated under a startup called Rabble. By the time they had completed this software, they were confident that it could be used, even desired by other libraries. They could customize and deploy their local music libraries to support local artists and the community.
With this new addition to your local libraries, we now have additional digital options other than audiobooks. Libraries across the United States and Canada are adopting this new software and creating streaming services using the MUSICat software as a base. Cities such as Pittsburgh, Nashville, Fort Worth, and New Orleans are just a few libraries that have joined this new trend.
This new opportunity for music artists allows them to share their music with the community. This helps the local artist grow in their community and supports them. The community also gets access to local music and builds cultural bonds together. The music is provided by these local artists as non-exclusive licensed music.
The non-exclusive license allows the local community to access this large array of music and the libraries to avoid copyright battles. This makes it a valuable resource for local content creators and small businesses by reaching out to the local artist or library. Rather than going to places such as Spotify and Amazon Music and risking copyright infringement.
The music and services are regionally specific, and living in the city limits is not a deal breaker for artists. The artists must be active in their community by doing gigs and other such performances regularly to qualify. The artists must also submit at least one track from their albums to qualify for this outstanding opportunity.
According to Joshua Smith, who works at New Orleans Public Library. “The goal of this was to make every round that we add albums to it to be as reflective of the local music scene as possible,” he said. “Personally, I was looking for things that are less what you think of when you think of New Orleans music because people think of us in a certain way. There’s an incredible diversity to the music scene here. And, you know, just the diversity of the city. So we’re trying to make everything as reflective of that as we could this round.”
Currently, there are over 2,000 artists featured on just one of the many MUSICat’s platforms, and they are looking to expand to more local communities. Austin’s goal is to continue forming partnerships on a local level with libraries. This will help bring communities together and enrich the local cultures.
With this trend growing, libraries are facing numerous difficulties, from the banning of books, and the censoring of content. They face the uphill battle of the modern era. These digital libraries that MUSICat is offering to support not only the musicians but the local libraries may be their saving grace. Libraries are heading into the modern era with gusto.
