Into the groove

The car is instrumental for music

What?: The car is getting musical, and it’s not just the sound of a grating gearbox or a Dukes of Hazard-style horn:

* Hitting the road, quite literally, is a new experimental concept from the Hokkaido Industrial Research Institute in Japan. The institute has constructed a number of ‘Melody Roads’ in a bid to make drivers more aware of their speed. Grooves cut at precise intervals into the road play a series of musical notes when driven over. The idea stems from the same concept of rumbling speed reduction humps

* The car is all set to be the next big music device, with the auto industry making great strides towards a fully integrated in- car music experience. Until then, you’ll have to make do with ‘Cabaraoke’, a taxi service that lets you sing in the backseat and then uploads your performance to the web.

So what?: In-car music is catching up with the rest of the digital world, so say goodbye to your clattering in-car CD/cassette player. Until such time you have Cabaraoke, which will no doubt prove a hit with inebriated young women. The video option highlights the Facebook trend amongst girls to post their drunken exploits online. The Melody Roads concept could also prove popular with men as it enables them to affectively run over James Blunt. However, the audio is hard to hear and requires the driver to go at a precise 28mph, hardly the equivalent of streaming web audio. Despite this, expect roads to be covered in brand jingles any day now.

See this month’s Five Eight for insight into the automotive industry’s integrated future with music: www.fiveeight.net

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