Booktrack – a different type of enhanced ebook no comments
Booktrack is another enhanced ebook publisher, but one with a bit of a twist. Rather than inserting video and other multimedia into an ebook, Booktrack adds soundtracks to them.
Synchronized music, sound effects and ambient sounds matched to your reading speed by the company’s proprietary technology — you get the idea. The first title to be released is The Power of Six by Pittacus Lore, which is the follow-up for I Am Number Four. This first title will contain more than 70 originally scored compositions. The Power of Six is available now at iTunes for $12.99.
"It’s difficult to imagine a movie with no soundtrack; yet, until today, the technology did not exist to synchronize music and sound within an ebook," said Paul Cameron, Booktrack’s co-founder and CEO. "Consider the reality of tens of millions of commuters around the world listening to a playlist that’s disconnected from what they’re reading —perhaps a sad song with an upbeat story. Instead, they can now instantly replicate a movie-like sound experience with Booktrack that fundamentally transforms their reading experience."
Over the next year Booktrack will be publishing a new short story each month. September’s offering will be In the South by Salman Rushdie, followed in October by Solace by Jay McInerney. Booktrack will also be releasing soundtracked versions of some of the classics — Sherlock Holmes is already available and is free. An Android version of BookTrack is in the works.
Booktrack has some high-profile backers, including Peter Thiel, one of the founders of PayPal; the New Zealand Ministry of Science and Innovation and the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, which is the NZ government’s national economic development agency. Sony/ATV music and Park Road Post Production (owned by Peter Jackson’s production company; mixed the sound for LOTR The Return of the King, King Kong and District 9) do the sound production. Seems to be a strong NZ connection, though the company is headquartered in NYC.
I’ve downloaded The Power of Six on my iPad — I’ll let you know what I think when I get a chance to read it.
