Mewbox nous en dit plus (avec photos)

Et voilà, je continue mes interviews des personnes qui croient en Archos. Aujourd’hui , c’est MewBox qui s’y colle.

1 introducing Mewbox

Mewbox is the first DRM-free music download service to launch on Android. Offering around 4 million tracks from over 23,000 labels, it’s been released on the Archos 5 internet tablet and is available in the UK, France, Ireland, Germany and Spain. Mewbox has some big plans to shake up the music space. While everyone is focusing on the likes streaming and file sharing, Mewbox have come out with a download platform that does everything it should for the people who make the music. And there’s more to come.

2 Neil McManus who are you?

	Just me My background is in music, marketing and telecoms. Which I suppose fits quite nicely with the space Mewbox sits in. My main job with Mewbox has been creating the framework and pulling everything together – Archos, 7Digital, TeraCode, and most of all the people on the Mewbox side. Apart from me, they are Ryan, James and Andrew. I’ll give each of them a few words about themselves now if that’s OK:
	Ryan: I’m the digital one. I also make the pretty pictures and work closely with the developers to make sure the graphics, functionality and user experience are seamlessly linked together. I come from a background in Business Marketing and Advertising as both a Digital Designer and more recently a Digital Creative. I get to do the fun part of Mewbox, she’s become my baby.
	Jamie: I meddle in marketing, arts / events management and content development. I previously worked in both the live and recorded music sectors in production, marketing and pr roles. I am also an occasional journalist, focusing on music.
	Andrew:  I am the geek who loves the technology and has worked with web and mobile platforms since 1997. My work is around infrastructure and networks. I just happen to love music too

3 Archos why?

In one way, it was an accident. We initially approached Archos about another project. The reason we talked to Archos about the other project is that their technology, in particular their screen technology, is fantastic. Once we realised exactly good the product was, and that there was no support for a music application, it just made sense to do it. Particularly with Android as part of the challenge.

The other major factor was the energy, enthusiasm and belief of Tony Limrick, Archos’ MD Northern Europe. He found out I had a background in music, knew we were keen to work with Archos, and suggested we do something like this. It’s come a long, long way since then, but without his help and energy we would not have got to where we are now.

4 Constraints & Challenges

Money and piracy. That was short and sweet No, seriously, there have been many. Although those two are the biggest.

File sharing is a challenge to very idea of paid music, so obviously, conceptually, it’s our biggest challenge. We don’t really believe in coercion, and don’t believe it’s necessary. Most people understand that the artist deserves to be paid for the work they create, and if the work is made available in the right space, at the right time, the right price and without constraints, then I think most people are happy to pay. Now, what the right time, space and price are is something we’re having an internal debate about all the time. But we think that Android is currently a vital space, and one that isn’t filled. Or wasn’t until now.

Technically, the challenges were all met by our designers. We (mainly Ryan, to be fair) came up with the functional flow of Mewbox, but the implementation of that is all down to our team, with special mentions going to Geert Engels, Mario Zorz and Fernando Perez. The understanding of the fit between Android and the Archos OS, and the integration with 7Digitals APIs was all down to them.

Beyond that, most of the restraints we face are to do with licensing and trying to reconnect some experience value to the purchase of digital music. We’re working on both of these, and have some nice solutions that you’ll see soon.

5 Future

Mewbox will be working on the Android app constantly for the next 6 months. There will be a continual flow of improvements, working on the presentation, usability and features available within Mewbox, as well as some new options on music purchasing packages. We’re looking forward to working with Archos on devices other than the A5, and to launching the vanilla Android application which will work on any Android device in the very near future. Keep your eyes peeled!

Download the custom build for the Archos A5 at www.mewbox.com now. We’d love to hear what you think.

Un grand merci à Neil,Jamie, Ryan and Andrew pour leurs réponses.

Pour l’avoir tester pendant la phase de mise en œuvre et par la suite, c’est un bon produit — dommage que cela soit payant .
Le « truc » en plus est que vous pouvez aussi récupérer — via l’interface de 7Digital — vos musiques sur votre (vos) ordinateur(s).

Retrouvez tous nos articles sur MewBox.