Connect and Collaborate at Indaba Music

Indaba Music is a site that aims to help us ride the current waves of change in the music industry. Their focus is on making it simple for artists to collaborate to create new music and on allowing fans to connect directly with artists and become involved in the creative process. This is actually something I’ve been trying to do with my own music. Rather than just being a tool for manipulating music, Indaba is putting more of a focus on the community around the tools they provide.

Indaba is a Zulu word that invokes the spirit of collaboration and community. It refers to a gathering or a forum for sharing ideas, and it embodies concepts that are central to the mission of Indaba Music.

Indaba Music is a place for musicians to find one another, create and remix music, and showcase their work. Record with our online session console, find musicians around the world, and blog about your new creations

You can tell that Indaba is serious about the music side of things because, rather than logging in with Twitter or Facebook Connect, they allow you to create your account in one click by linking up with MySpace. Of course, you can also sign up for an account with Indaba directly. Once you’ve connected MySpace, Indaba will search your friends network to see who you already know on Indaba.

The next step is filling out your profile. This will help you network with the right people. You can choose your skill level (Amateur, Semi-Pro, Professional) and get specific about your skills via tags. Indaba auto-completes the tags so that you can specify your Craft, Instruments, Genres, and Influences. The fact that they auto-complete limits your choices, but ensures consistency across the network. This means you will be able to find exactly what or who you’re looking for when the time comes.

Indaba Music boasts a host of features for getting your music projects completed. You can upload your music, images, and documents related to a specific project. You can use the Indaba Console to record, edit, and mix your music. Choose from over 8,000 Creative Commons licensed clips, loops, and samples to enhance your sessions. You can also Phone It In using the IndabaVox feature. This lets you record audio to a session over the phone if the mood strikes you while you’re driving or something. Even if you have no skills at actually creating music, but you have passion and ideas, you can share your ideas and possibly collaborate with someone who can make your ideas reality.

As far as community goes, you can connect with other artists, people, and even just find interesting recording sessions. There is a Happening Now sidebar that shows you what everyone is doing in realtime. There are Forums, Chat rooms,  Events, and Groups. If you still haven’t found what you want, check out Featured Programs where you will find Contests to join, Featured Sessions, and music tutorials.

If you’re an artist looking to step your game up and grow, someone looking to learn from others, or just a music lover looking to find new music, Indaba Music might just be the spot for you. If you do join, don’t forget to add me as a contact.

About the Author
Rahsheen has been a certified geek since before it was the thing to do. He started programming and tinkering in the 4th grade. Now, Rahsheen mostly writes on various sites about technology trends in social media and mobile. . He is also a musician, singer, rapper, writer, and producer. @rahsheen - +Rahsheen Porter - coachrah.com
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