Other Voices come to Xbox Live
If you’re connected to XBox live, you might have spotted a familiar face hidden in the extensive GamesCon footage; that of Duke Special.
XBox live are showing a series of the intimate “Other Voices” gigs filmed in Dingle’s St James Church. Yes, this is a shortened version of the gigs shown on RTÉ over the years, but this is something of a test. In November Microsoft XBox team expect to see a change in the types of people sitting down in from of their XBox once the Kinect arrives. Namely that of casual gamers. Namely that of people who like music. Namely that of people who would rather dance then first person shoot.
Its been no secret that Zune didn’t quite reach the ubiquity of the iPod. They are currently in the process of re-branding Zune from an item of hardware (which was never made available in Ireland) to that of a marketplace. Buy songs or music videos off Zune instead of off the iTunes marketplace. The option to buy movies to download for a set time, or to stream had been there for a while. Heck, the sales of songs for use with Rock Band, Lips and Guitar Hero keep the games add-on market ticking over faster that the marketplace latest list can handle sometimes.
So why not make a play for streaming music. What about streaming the December gigs in Dingle live? Its small, intimate and, well, tiny. The creaking 200 year old building in the centre of Dingle only sits 70 people. Why not expand it.
Microsoft have experimented with live broadcasts before. Their 1 vs. 100 avatar based game show (now defunct) was such an experiment. One that has mixed results. The last live shows were for the launch of Kinect itself. They can draw in people if the content is interesting enough. And “Other Voices” is an interesting festival.
I can almost see Microsoft trying out a stage at next year’s South by South West (currently the line-up is in negotiation) which has morphed from a pure music A&R series of gigs, to a major interactive expo for the first week, followed by the music and games. Well, legalities aside, why not have a Microsoft Stage and transmit part of SXSW live (or deferred) across XBox Live.
Other Voices a test of some sort. And Ireland is a self contained test market. Maybe things are going to get interesting .
The line-up for the Other Voices changes about 3pm on a Thursday for Ireland on the “Spotlight” plane, and is as follows:
Duke Special – Thursday 19th August
Elbow – Thursday 26th August
Villagers – Thursday 2nd September
Magic Numbers – Thursday 9th September
Jape – Thursday 16th September
Seasick Steve – Thursday 23rd September
Fight Like Apes – Thursday 30th September
Richard Hawley – Thursday 7th October
Peter, Bjorn and John – Thursday 14th October
Speech Debelle – Thursday 21st October
Super Furry Animals – Thursday 28th October
About the Author
Will Will likes to dance around the interfaces of technology, people and culture. Unfortunately that dance floor is freshly waxed. He usually remembers to write (and photograph) at WillKnott.ie
Related Posts
Games Review: Rocksmith (on XBox 360) →
Music News: Jape Wins Meteor Choice Music Prize 2011 →
Festival News: Electric Picnic 2012 Line-Up Announced. →