19 April 2012
Russell Cook
As a music journalist, it’s not often you get asked to check out a new media App, but being asked for thoughts on the new Moshcam application was of significant relevance, particularly when considering the changes that have taken place within the music industry in recent years, and our increasing tendency – as music lovers – to opt for the easy choice of popping on YouTube and catching a glimpse of a live show from the comfort of our home.
The Moshcam App provides a simple means of catching some of the best live music performances from around the globe, just by streaming them through your phone. Now, you may be thinking, “wait, this all sounds familiar”, but hold on, because Moshcam has one glaringly obvious USP that sets itself apart from the YouTube’s and the Vimeo’s: its sole focus is on the delivery of high quality recordings in both sound and vision – no second-rate footage or sound, just top quality stuff.
So, how does it work? Initially, all new users of the App are given 5 free gigs of their choice. This means that users can scroll through the categories and database, and select 5 whole shows which they would like to unlock and stream to their iPhone / iPad / iPod Touch. From that point forward, users are able to unlock whole concerts by paying a one-off fee, through iTunes, for around the same cost of a single audio track download.
The concept of Moshcam and its partnering application is fantastic, but after the 5-free gigs offer, how many people will revert back to the free music offered by YouTube? That is yet to be seen. Nonetheless, a large proportion of the live music footage available for streaming on YouTube comes from fan uploads, meaning that the quality is some distance from that offered by Moshcam. But the website and its accompanying App is still really in the earliest phases, and as a result, does not have the selection required to compete fully with the Google owned streaming beast.
However, as a growing success in its home country of Australia, Moshcam has started to spread its wings, through the inclusion of quality material captured in Europe, and North America. With an ever growing database, and relatively cheap prices, Moshcam should be a big hit in the UK, but some concerns do remain, like the effect of the generic name and its ensuing connotations, for example. In addition, the ever-present draw of actually attending a gig in person will always trump catching the performance through a phone – atmosphere is something you just can’t package up and stream.
Overall, Moshcam has the potential to be a popular application, offering a simple but effective concept by giving fans the opportunity to hear their favourite artists' / bands’ performances in venues and places a world away. With some tweaks to current gremlins, and inclusion of more material, it has the potential to be a big success.
To check out the website and its partnering app, go to www.moshcam.com
