Public Funding for Smiling Wolf Limited

Front page banner headline: VIEW (Fact Based Content Linkage) Initial lead-in paragraph: VIEW is a discovery service that examines metadata within digital content stored online and locally, and compares it against existing online data sources in order to create a factual discovery linkage system. The need: As so much digital content is available online the issue for consumers is how to assure trusted links between music they have and music they would enjoy. We have identified a need for the necessity to link consumers to back catalogues and to help identify new artists for the 25-50+ age group. We have also discovered that current algorithm based discovery services such as Audioscrobbler, utilised by Last FM, rarely link to back catalogue artists as they are based on a user play list and community profiling mechanisms which on the main display links to current artists. The results: The VIEW discovery service examines online data for factual connections between pieces of digital content. The service creates an architecture that discovers, sifts and orders complex data sources that are related to the metadata associated with digital content. The primary application domain is content discovery, which has a direct correlation to the aspiration’s of the consumer. Development of the proof of concept demonstrator model has predominantly focued on the iPhone (iOS) platform (and other mobile devices) as this has been identified as the primary platform for content delivery. As a means of delivering the digital content (streaming music) for the prototype model, the team have implemented a Spotify client for iOS into the service. The prototype model successfully demonstrates: • The Identification and ordering of different types of music. • How a consumer can explore musical journeys. • How the service can lead to content purchases. • The inclusion of a social layer to enable more subjective content linkages such as influences. • How the service can be connected to music services, iTunes, Spotify, We7, Last FM. • The different types of VIEW services that can be used on different devices, i.e. iPhone, iPad and Web. Quote: “new music, old music, love music, view music - VIEW helps to bring digital distribution of content to a wider audience, linking consumers to back catalogues and to help identify new artists.”