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Indie911, a social networking for music fans that allows users to share music, playlists, and videos, has been hawking an original film, Before the Music Dies, through a new platform called Hoooka that might be a prototype for next generation film purchasing.
Ever since Amazon’s early days, articles, artist websites, blogs, and MySpace pages have utilized a two-click link to make related products purchasable from their sites. But Indie911’s Hoooka presents something new. Not only can you embed Hoooka’s video player on your blog, but Hoooka also allows users to purchase and download digital material like Before the Music Dies ($9.99 full screen, $3.99 portable media size) straight from the embedded player.
This technology has always been accessible with Hoooka, but this is the first time that it’s been used in conjunction with video. Like iTunes, music and music videos are available from $0.99. But Hoooka’s focus is largely on free sharing, allowing artists and fans to share media like music video playlists with no charges ascribed to any of the videos available to download from the player. It’s a pretty cool concept.
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The film itself is an original composition that’s been reviewed by everything from Salon to the New York Times, featuring discussion and performances from artists like Erykah Badu and Calexico in its cinematic analysis of how music has gotten to where it is today, where it could wind up, and how we can save it.
In some ways, it plays like an advertisement for Indie911’s missive: connecting artists and building a community of idea- and music-sharing. But, as the documentary argues in a thesis that’s pretty hard to refute, that might just be what saves the industry from poor sales, mediocrity, and artistic decline.
Check it out on Indie911.
