Sonific, a new service aimed at bringing embeddable music to your website, is now taking invitation requests. Your blog or social software space is a projection of your passion and interests out into the web. Sonific allows you to add a soundtrack to that projection of yourself, drawing on a vast repository of music as diverse as the blogs that it will be featured on.

In our video interview with Sonific's CEO Gerd Leonhard, music futurist and co-author of The Future of Music, Robin Good discusses all of the key facts and the thinking behind Sonific, what this service has to offer independent publishers, and how you can sign up today.

As the landscape of music production and distribution is changing radically, how can independent publishers and independent musicians come together to further their causes? Gerd Leonhard thinks he has the answer.

Photo courtesy of: Gerd Leonhard

Introductions

In our first segment, Robin Good introduces Gerd, who discusses his thoughts on the changing nature of music production and distribution. As the landscape changes beyond recognition, what can smart independent publishers and musicians do to keep on top of the game?

Piracy Vs Music Sharing

In this next segment, Robin and Gerd discuss the implications of intellectual property, music piracy and file sharing for the new generation of independents. Gerd draws a clear distinction between the idea of the pirate and the inquisitive web user in search of new music and media.

Taking Advantage of the New Musical Landscape

For those interested in making it big through their music, or supporting rising stars in the independent music scene, what has changed in the landscape? What is the minimum that needs to be done to prosper, and how can the web have a direct impact on success? Robin and Gerd discuss these questions in this next segment.

What Is Sonific And Who Is It For?

'Song spots' - full songs or instrumental pieces - can be taken from Sonific's catalogue and embedded into any website capable of accepting a few simple lines of HTML code, like the ones you use to embed YouTube videos into a blog for instance. This means that home pages, blogs and any other HTML based sites can make use of the service with a simple copying and pasting of a song's code.

In the next segment of our interview Robin and Gerd discuss exactly what Sonific is, and how it can help independent publishers and musicians all at once.

Sonific In Under Thirty Seconds

For those short on time, but interested in Sonific, our next clip features Robin summarizing what Sonific is, and what you can do with it, in under thirty seconds. This is the no frills, simple, in-a-nutshell definition of the service.

Responses To Early Criticism - The Soundtrack Versus Online Radio

Early criticism of Sonfic has focused on the fact that the service only allows you to embed a single track into your site at a time. In our next segment, Robin and Gerd discuss this criticism.

Gerd argues that Sonific is not attempting to compete with embeddable internet radio services, where new tracks are constantly streamed, but is instead a way to create a suitable soundtrack to heighten the atmosphere of a site by complimenting its content, or else a way to personally draw attention to a particular artist or band.

Where Does The Music Come From? Who Can Participate?

Sonific's stock of music is sourced, at present, from a partnership with independent music site CD Baby. While at the moment it is not possible for bands starting out to upload their music directly to Sonific, Gerd discusses the possibilities of opening their net wider in the future.

In the next segment, the opportunities for participation are discussed in more depth.

An Invitation For All Robin Good Readers To Join The Sonific Beta

Robin Good Readers are officially invited to join the currently closed, invitation-only beta period in this next segment. If you would like to use this versatile and well stocked music service to create a soundtrack for your site, while helping to give independent musicians the chance to be further discovered, simply go to the invitation request page and mention that you discovered the service through Robin Good. Entrance is guaranteed.

Sonific Elsewhere On The Web

If you are interested in learning more about the Sonific service, the following sites have written about it recently:

• The Digital Music Weblog - Gerd Leonhard Interview
• Mashable - Sonific's Music Player For MySpace And Blogs
• Fred Destin - Sonific: The Future Of Music According To The Futurist Himself
Robin Good and Michael Pick -