MUMBAI: Musicians across India are leaving no stones unturned to entertain audiences with live performances through social media platforms. Dolby ON – a free music and video recording app provides musicians and content creators a tool to capture their thoughts, as they strike, and then turn them into shareable content for their friends and collaborators, in Dolby sound.
In a special interaction with indiantelevision.com, Dolby Laboratories marketing – India director Sameer Seth talks about the launch of Dolby On, how big is the Indian Market for Dolby and much more.
Edited Excerpts:
What are the expectations from the launch of Dolby On in the android market?
The value of camera quality at the moment of capture is well understood, but quality audio is often left to post-production editing to create “good” sound. Current smartphone technology allows you to look good with minimal effort, but sounding good requires considerably more work, expertise, and equipment. Building on over 50 years of innovation, Dolby On is a free iOS and Android application designed to make recording and livestreaming sound and video with unparalleled audio quality incredibly simple, using nothing but your device. Dolby On empowers creators to make their statement with amazing sound quality, anytime and anywhere.
India is a mobile-first nation with a significant Android base and more importantly, great talent wanting to use their mobile devices to capture content for themselves, to collaborate, or to share with their audiences on social media. With Dolby On’s live streaming feature you can be sharing out to Twitch, Vimeo and explore endless streaming possibilities with the recently added RTMP feature, with just the press of a button.
Why was the lockdown period considered to launch the app?
In today’s time creators are trying to become experts in things like video and audio production and live streaming. In this moment, we felt like the best way we can start to help is by expanding the accessibility of a free tool. The Dolby On app analyses the music around you and automatically reduces the background noise. It also provides just the right touch of EQ, compression, stereo widening, de-essing and more. You can further edit the sound with unique sound “styles” – like photo filters in Instagram, these allow you to apply sonic profiles to your recording. Dolby On intends to deliver superior audio quality using just your phone, so you can capture the moment when it strikes with incredible Dolby sound anywhere, anytime.
How big is India as a market for Dolby On?
India has got talent and we have experienced that at various points in our lives. The nature of content creation has fundamentally changed with the prevalence of mobile devices that carry powerful camera and microphone technology. Creators, of all levels, no longer need expensive equipment or expert skill sets to capture and create share worthy content. Dolby On is this powerful tool in your pocket which allows you to do just that. The introduction of the Dolby On app for both iOS and Android market earlier this year has received a tremendous response with numerous downloads. The momentum will just grow from hereon.
What initiatives/campaigns were conducted for the Indian market?
To raise awareness for Dolby On, we have extensively used content marketing on the digital medium with multiple posts including videos to explain some of the features of the app. We also collaborated with JioSaavn, a very popular music streaming service for their initiative ‘JioSaavn Live Anywhere’, and an artist driven initiative ‘Lockdown_Gig’, where we have had artists going live on Facebook using the Dolby On app. Some of the artists include Palash Sen, Nikhita Gandhi, Ankur Tewari, Taba Chake, Nikhil Dsouza to name a few, who took the virtual stage live using the Dolby On app.
Is the app aimed at musicians or anyone who wants to record video content too?
The Dolby On app is for creators, primarily in music, vlogging, and podcasting who use their mobile devices as a part of their creative process and value great sound. Dolby On is for anyone that needs better sounding recordings - audio and video – from their phone. Musicians are one of the bigger groups that falls into this category of people, but we have users that are vloggers, journalists, podcasters, etc.
How is Dolby planning to capitalise the youth market?
Our goal is to offer experiences that bring entertainment to life be it at the cinemas, at home in the living room or on the go on mobile. The audience of today, especially the youth are seeking memorable and spectacular experiences wherever they go. So, the need of the hour is to offer an immersive experience which stays with them long after they have turned the screen off.
We have a strong presence in the cinema business through our audio technology – Dolby Atmos and Dolby Audio and also more recently with our video technology – Dolby Vision. We also have a large presence on the consumer entertainment side in television, HD broadcast, and also with streaming services and in content. Dolby’s technology is very widely adopted across technologies, across device categories, including televisions and set-top-boxes, DMAs, mobile phones, tablets, home theatres, soundbars and many other consumer electronics categories. Dolby as a brand consciously works on making the experience seamless across all screens, especially with the youth of today consuming content across screen types.
Were there any kind of challenges that you faced?
Dolby’s endeavour is always to ensure that the consumer experience is uncompromised - whether they are in the cinema halls, in their living rooms or on the go. Consumers will always be able to get the spectacular experience wherever he/she is.
Through innovative research and engineering, Dolby has transformed entertainment for millions of people around the world. We are constantly pushing ourselves to find new ways to deliver amazing experiences. This is exemplified by the growing availability of Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and Dolby Audio enabled devices and content.
Any tips and tricks on how to best use the app for quality experience
There are some pro-tips to the make most of the Dolby On App:
· For video, frame your shot by setting up your phone or tablet, and ensure your space is lit properly. For audio-only recordings, you should experiment with phone placement to get the right mix of sound sources (for example, capturing the right balance of your voice and guitar.)
· Check your levels and keep an eye on the in-app level meter if you’re in the red, reduce your volume or move the phone further away to avoid clipping.
· Should you be using the live streaming feature, make sure you have your Facebook or Twitch or RTMP feeds available nearby on a separate device so you can view feedback and engage with your viewers in real time. While live streaming will work from a good cell data signal, we definitely recommend a strong WiFi connection for best results.
