App allows for wireless music sharing

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MyStream launched an app Thursday that allows iPhone and iPod users to wirelessly share their music with buddies in the same room and to buy a song that strikes their fancy.

The 23-year-old New York entrepeneur who created the free app, Richard Zelson, told Los Angeles Times reporter Alex Pham that the app works by using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to connect multiple iPhones and iPods.

From Pham’s report:

Zelson said connecting via Bluetooth, which nearly all cellphones now have, lets up to six listeners share music. A Wi-Fi connection, because it’s more robust, allows more people to get into the party -- a dozen or more.

‘We’ve had 12 people on at the same time without any problems,’ Zelson said. ‘You can host a silent disco party in your house, if you want.’

Zelson said that the app was built to avoid treading on copyright issues. But it could still edge into some sensitive territory in the music industry, which has been battered by illegal file sharing online.

Zelson said he believes his app should not trip any copyright alarms because of some safeguards built into MyStream. It only lets others listen to full songs that are currently being played in real time by the host player. Other songs on the playlist are playable as 30-second samples. Zelson also said the songs are ‘mapped, not copied’ to other players.

Zelson argued that record labels should welcome MyStream because it encourages people to buy the songs after they’ve listened.

For Pham’s original blog post, click here.

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