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The personal MP3 player has revolutionized how we listen to, buy and think about music. It’s now possible to carry a lifetime’s collection of albums and songs around in a pocket or purse, and literally apply a personalized soundtrack to one’s life. The personal mp3 player, however, is an inherently solitary experience. Traditionally, music itself has been a shared experience and (for many people) a form of self-expression of one’s own individuality. Companies have been scrambling to bridge the gap between the convenience of listening to music and retaining its social aspects. We’ve seen portable media players with speakers, various implementations of DRM-ridden “sharing functionality” in some players, and the most common solution to date: sharing the spare ear bud with a friend. What has been missing is recreating the social experience of music with personal mp3 players in an easy and universal way. Music is about to meet social networking.
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