Cellphone powered interactive DJ set to take music industry by storm

ViaMedia, a hot new technology innovations company, has partnered with iTouch, one of South Africa's leading mobile application providers, to bring iDJ to the South African public.

Called interactive Disc Jockey (iDJ), the music-on-the-move product, conceptualised and developed by ViaMedia and powered by SA founded, iTouch is set to be rolled out globally.

The service is currently being offered to the 13.2 million cellular consumers across South Africa and is expected to benefit the local and international music and cellular industries enormously in that it provides "an unrivalled interactive music experience".

Garth Mackintosh, CEO of ViaMedia says the service is designed to have broad appeal across the entire cellphone market, but in particular, to the happening and demanding youth market and the older music lovers who are tech-savvy and really value convenience.

As the iDJ says 'hear it, want it, have it'. The service offers consumers, who hear a song being played on the radio, the option to hear information about the song, listen to the CD, buy the CD and have numerous valuable add-ons such as dedicating and sending the music to a friend and having the latest hits and specialised music recommended to the consumer. Furthermore, iDJ enables customers to call in and listen to songs and albums by entering the song or album code advertised or reviewed through various media.

Mike Hainebach, new product development manager at iTouch says, "Our market research indicates that iDJ has massive appeal. Music is woven into the very fabric of our cultures and evokes strong emotions. It's that emotion that we believe will drive consumers to use the service. Mobility is all about personal choice and connectivity. In this world of instant gratification we believe this product will take the market by storm in that it enables consumers to choose, act and have."

"Nothing could be easier than simply dialling in and having the ability to hear the song, the artist and the album via voice, sms or e-mail, listening to the song or others on the album, buying the album or having the song sent to you or friends via music clip."

The service will also keep a record of all song or album details requested by users, it can inform consumers via sms or e-mail of the most popular tracks, recommend other music based on their choices and, in the future, possibly not only cut custom CDs based on their favourite music, but also provide electronic downloads to cellphones, PC's or other devices. iDJ makes use of cutting-edge digital signal processing technology developed by Stone Three and Audio Auditing in collaboration with ViaMedia.

Mackintosh believes radio is one of the most prolific and effective music mediums. Radio acts as a stimulus for consumers to engage with a music service that has been designed to be as simple as possible for consumers whilst delivering rich functionality. Future plans will move the service beyond radio through harnessing the full power of the sophisticated DSP (Digital Signal Processing) technology already developed.

He estimates the core of the two key market segments in South Africa alone to exceed 4 million people, but this service can be relatively easily exported into the American and European markets. This is yet another example of world-class innovative technology being developed in South Africa.

To call the iDJ dial 082 282 3000 or log onto www.idj.co.za.