Tag Archives: music

24 hours of happy

I stumbled across a Medium post a few days ago on how Pharrell’s song “Happy” has been topping the charts around the world, but somehow hasn’t made it here yet. The post says it will probably grow in popularity, and then because the summer hit of 2014.

After two days, I would not be surprised. The song is bouncy, and catchy, and just makes you want to dance. The music video just adds to it, showing a bunch of people dancing to the song.

As if the music video wasn’t enough, it actually comes from a much larger project: 24 hours of happy. Pharrell and his crew actually recorded 24 hours of people dancing to the song. You would think the song would get old, but after 2 days of watching it for a few hours a day (it was in the background as I worked), I’m not sure it will get old. There is something magical about seeing someone dance. Each person has their own personality and style, and each dance feels like a new video. Amazing.

The 24 hour video is the best thing I’ve stumbled across in a while. I can check in at any hour, and there is always joy and entertainment. Beyond that, it is a great example of how we music and technology can be fused to create the type of art that has never been created before. I hope other artists get inspired, and push the boundaries of what modern art could be.

Music and social media

Music is a wonderful thing. It can immediately evoke strong emotions, such as excitiement or feelings of nostalgia. Whatever you are doing, great music can significantly improve your experience.

I love music. The funny thing is, it has never been part of my social media experience. I have shared status updates, location, images, and videos, but I have rarely had a reason to share something with music. That is, until this week.

Recently, I’ve been coming across short videos made by the Mindie iOS app. This week, I’m on vacation on Oahu, and gave it a try myself. For those that haven’t seen them, Mindie allows a user to choose a song from the iTunes store, and then use their phone’s video camera to put together video clips totaling up to 7 seconds. 7 seconds of your chosen song plays in the background.

Mindie sounds like a simple app, but it is the first music-related social media experience that I have ever been excited about. It allows you to stitch together parts of your life, and then use the music of your choice to strengthen the moment. The addition of music is powerful. It improves the video, as well as attaches itself to your experiences within your mind. I’m sure that when I recall the experiences in the future, the songs will be part of my memory.

Want an example? Here’s an Mindie from today 🙂

Awesome, huh?

The 7 second limit is a huge design decision here. It allows the video to be short and fun, but is long enough include a significant number of shots. More importantly, the constraint forces users to use their creativity to maximize the 7 seconds of video. It essentially turns everyone into the executive producer of a short music video reflecting their lives. The result is an exciting video that you don’t mind looping over and over. And because they are only 7 seconds, you don’t mind watching other people’s Mindies also.

I’ve already made 10+ Mindies these past few days, and they have been a lot of fun. It is very exciting. The most exciting part of this, is that I believe Mindie has unlocked the key to adding music into social media. This is great for music lovers and me.. and I’m sure many others in the world.

IMHO, Mindie is the first compelling social app that makes music a core part of the experience. I don’t think it will be the last, and am excited to see what other app developers come up with.

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P.S. This is post number #85 in a 100 day blogging challenge. See you tomorrow!

Follow me on Twitter @alexshye.

Or, check out my current project Soulmix.