iPhoneLife: Moodagent – free app for generating playlists
Jim Karpen writes that Moodagent’s sudden success is “pretty impressive”, and compares the app to Apple’s Genius. He notes in his story that Moodagent can even play music that has not yet been profiled.

Los Angeles Times: Moodagent asks, Are you in the mood for some advertising?
Jon Healey writes about Moodagent’s new plans for mood-based advertising. He explains in his article that “the mushrooming size of personal music collections is increasing the need for software that can create appealing mixes out of the digital hastack of tracks.”

headliner.fm blog: Moodagent
“Perhaps inspired by the iconic psychedelia of MoodRings”, Nick ponders how Moodagent came to be, adding that I may be the “perfect application” for people unwilling to organize large libraries of music.

HardwareInsight: Moodagent plays Music Based On Your Mood
Talha Chaudhry writes that “music defines your state of mind”, and that Moodagent will play music according to your mood. This article continues with a succinct overview of the apps works and the different options available to listeners. Chaudhry says Syntonetic’s plan is a “really interested idea”.

Technovia: Moodagent – a great tool for playlists
In this Moodagent review, Ian Betteridge calls Apple’s Genius “one-dimensional” and in contrast, said Moodagent “produced some really good quality playlists.”

The Smartest iPhone: Top 20 Apps Part 1
Naming Moodagent one of the “Top 20 essential Apps for the iPhone”, this concise overview says Moodagent helps listeners match music to a specific mood or change a mood.

iPhone App Review: Moodagent: Music to suit your mood!
The writer says that Moodagent “is a very clever and nifty application” that is able to define music based on your mood, also referring to the app as “effortless” and “intuitive”.

Apps Reviews: Moodagent iPhone Music App Review
This Moodagent review begins “Looking for a way to listen to your music library based on your mood? If so, Moodagent iPhone App is the perfect solution.” And scores the app at 8.5 out of 10.

PhoneBlog: Moodagent Builds A Smart Playlist Based On Your Mood
While writer Noel confesses he’s not a fan of automated playlists, he says that Moodagent is beginning to make him change his mind, and “there might be hope for this “smart” playlist thing, after all.” Noel continues with a great explanation of how the app works, citing several examples of his experience, such as when he was feeling aggressive and Moodagent chose apt music. “Surprisingly, it managed to pick out one of the two very angsty country songs…”

Macworld Video Channel: 2010 Macworld iPhone accessories
In this installment on the Macworld Video Channel, Dan Frakes does a great job of demonstrating the Moodagent app and concisely running down the list of features. Check it out here:

IntoMobile: Moodagent Aims To Be More Than Just An App
Ben Robinson explains the relationship between music and emotions, and how Moodagent has piqued the interest of psychologists interested in the app’s ability to quantify emotion.

Apps & Hats: 24: Zombie Pizza, iSaidWhat? Memento, Moodagent, iXplode
Christine and Hattie – in full zombie bride attire! – give a quick overview of Moodagent in this episode. Christine says she likes Moodagent and was pleased with the results, recommending viewers download the app and give it a try.

My Tech Mix: Moodagent App Works With Your Mood, Builds Awesome Playlists
Shailpik praises Syntonetic for its creativity with the Moodagent app, and when it comes to building playlists, he writes Moodagent “does it really well.” He adds that “We all want our music to match how we feel,” but have too many moods to make manual playlist creation a feasible, and “This is where Moodagent shows its brilliance.”

Electronic Beats: SCIENTISTS TO LEARN FROM IPHONE’S FIRST AI MUSIC APP
Electronic beats calls Moodagent “surprisingly accurate” in this app review, and writes “This 21^st century piece of software has created a wave of excitement in the science world”.

Deric Bownds’ Mindblog: Dialing the desired emotions in your music…
In a brief intro that discusses the origin of music, Deric Bownds says that Moodagent appears to “tap some very ancient roots in a high-tech way”.

BrightHand: Macworld 2010: Without Apple, the Thrill is Gone
In a Macworld 2010 wrap-up article, Ed Hardy writes that he was “glad to find [Moodagent] at Macworld.”

My Blog: moodagent iPhone app
This blogger writes about smart playlists based on mood: “My music taste is influenced by the way I feel, I’m sure most people are the same.” He continues to say that “at last” the gap has been filled with Moodagent.

Jilius: Music playlists based on Your mood
This app review says Moodagent’s ability to create playlists based on mood is “what makes it so special.”

Music, Macs and Mirth: Moodagent app for iPhone & iPod Touch automatically creates playlists based on your mood
This app review called Moodagent “clever” as well as “fun and surprisingly effective”.

suite101.com: Useful Free Apps for iPod Touch
In this free apps roundup, Stephanie Cox helps readers load their iPod Touch devices with useful applications. She puts Moodagent at the top of the list, writing that playlist composition is “fast” and “smooth”, adding that “Moodagent is definitely one of the coolest free Apps for playlist creation to date.”

Harry Podder and the Big Apple: Moodagent
The writer says he downloaded Moodagent and was “immediately attracted by not only how easy it works but how attractive it looks!” He continues to write that the app is “much better than Genius”, and expresses his confidence in the app to produce fitting results for the listener.

Navsha’s Posterous: Moodagent – Yet Another Reason Why I Love My iPod Touch So Much
“This one is great.” The writer contends that Moodagent takes playlist creation “a step further” and that the app has a “beautifully designed interface”.

Brad Grier: Amazing iPhone playlist generator thingie
In this post, Brad Grier declares he “simply can’t be bothered” making playlists, and was “pleasantly surprised” that he is now “starting to really rock playlists, thanks to Moodagent”. He also says “it’s kinda like iTunes Genius, only better”.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
“something you didn’t know you needed until you start playing with it and find it invaluable”

“a wonderful music app that puts you in control of creating Genius like playlists of your iTunes library.”

“I can easily see this completely replacing Genius playlists by putting you in the drivers seat when using iTunes on your computer.”

Chicago Now/iPhone Therefore I Blog
“managing music based on mood might just be the next big thing”

App Judgement
“The quality of playlists generated through this beautifully-designed app was enough to sell me, but the discovery of lost songs and the growing cloud of music profiling is even better.”

PhoneBlog
“Never been a big fan of automated playlists… Moodagent, however, is beginning to make me change my mind. There might be hope for this “smart” playlist thing, after all.”

AppShouter
“The features of this app are worth their weight in gold.”

VirtualMusic.tv
“Mood-based technology might zap us to better understand how music relates to human emotions.”

BusinessTravelRX
“Having the right music is priceless and Moodagent can deliver that easily to your finger tips!”

BBC/Click
“A cute, but powerful tool”

The iPhone App Review
“With Moodagent, you no longer need to spend time creating tedious and long lists, instead just choose what mood you are in and the music will inevitably match it.”

Crawdaddy! Magazine
“I’m not one to geek out over technology per se, but this one is pretty sweet. If you’ve got an iPhone, you should download Moodagent …”

Macworld
“Sometimes I need some motivation to explore the depth of music that I own and I’ve found Syntonetic’s free Moodagent to be just the swift kick in the pants that I need.

I quickly developed a real liking for it when I found that it was actually pretty accurate and it built playlists that I really like.

Tech and Cover
“It has enabled me to rediscover some long forgotten tracks (and album tracks I had never listened to)”

App Advice Daily
“Our app of the Day – Moodagent”

O’Reilly Best iPhone Apps
“It’s an improved — and emotionally attuned — version of the iTunes genius feature.”

Macworld Conference & Expo 2010 – SAN FRANCISCO, January 10, 2010 – Syntonetic Inc., creator of Moodagent music profiling and recommendation technology, today announced that uses for its iPhone application may extend far beyond instant playlist creation. More than 1,000,000 listeners have used Moodagent technology to enjoy their favorite music, but now the Moodagent app is beginning to turn the heads of psychologists interested in the effects of music on emotions.

Moodagent creates instant playlists by allowing the listener to adjust touchscreen sliders labeled Sensual, Tender, Joy, Aggressive and Tempo. These sliders determine the characteristics of the music added to that playlist. Playlist creation aside, some psychologists are interested in the application’s ability to quantify emotion.

Typically, psychologists measure emotion via surveys, asking people to verbally indicate their mood. Emotion can also be gleaned from tone of voice and facial expression. Like a person, Moodagent can perform a complicated series of analyses to measure the emotional qualities of a song.

Dr. David Echevarria, professor of psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi, believes Moodagent may prove useful as a teaching tool to help stimulate critical thinking about the impact of music on emotions. “As a psychologist, I am fascinated that a mobile application can discern subtle and elusive emotional qualities in music,” he said. “There are some individuals with various disorders who find this an extremely challenging – if not impossible – task, and here we have a app that can do it! Moodagent is essentially a form of artificial social intelligence.”

It has long been known that music can either positively or negatively affect a person’s mood, state of happiness or stress level. Many people often turn to their favorite music to help themselves feel better, happier and more relaxed when they are feeling down or stressed, which can in turn affect mood-enhancing neurochemicals. For example, listening to music that normally makes one happy and promotes feelings of relaxation will trigger the brain to release serotonin*, a naturally occurring anti-depressant neurotransmitter that boosts feelings of happiness and stimulates the mind and body to enjoy a more relaxed state.

When it comes to music as a mood booster, sorting through thousands of tracks for the perfect music could have an adverse effect, actually raising your stress levels even more. To avoid this undesirable task, many will use a shuffle feature to create a playlist, but any veteran iPod owner knows that this often results in a muddled combination of music that does not work well together, thus promoting feelings of frustration. Listening to a song that puts you in one mood followed by something completely unexpected can elevate levels of stress, something that can happen with the shuffle feature.

Moodagent lets listeners create playlists based on their mood, or create playlists to change their mood. The Moodagent engine was carefully designed to choose music that most closely matches the settings the listener chose, and the app does it in five seconds or less. Little work is required on the part of the listener. He or she simply sets the sliders. Moodagent understands that listeners are people, not statistics, and looks at one’s music library to understand the emotional characteristics of his or her music. It chooses the best music for the listener based on emotions, instead of music popularity like some other similar playlisting solutions.

“I’m hoping to use Moodagent as a teaching tool to stimulate conversation, learning and critical thinking in the area of emotions and psychology,” said Echevarria.

“We want people to think of music and Moodagent as a fast, effortless cure when they are feeling down about dreary winter weather, the economy or even trouble in the world,” said Richard French, chief executive officer of Syntonetic. “Moodagent lets you create a playlist based on the mood you’re in right now, or the mood you want, and since it uses only music you have on your iPhone or iPod Touch there are no surprises and no redirection to iTunes to purchase new music.”

Syntonetic will exhibit the mobile application and music profiling and recommendation technology at this week’s Macworld 2010, in the Mobile Application Showcase, Booth #1366, Kiosk #57. Moodagent experts will provide live demos for event attendees.

About Syntonetic
Syntonetic delivers powerful solutions for leading mobile device manufacturers, mobile operators, online music businesses and streaming music services, and provides applications direct to consumers. The company’s intelligent applications automatically decode unique properties within songs, including moods and emotions, to create new music services that attract and retain users, and applications that change the way people listen to music. More than 1,000,000 customers from 187 different countries have synced over 1 billion songs to create instant playlists based on moods and emotions. Syntonetic offices are located in Frederiksberg, Denmark, and San Francisco, Calif., and can be found online at www.syntonetic.com.

Press Contact
Marla Kramer
marla@blend-pr.com
Phone: 615-962-2670

Pitch Engine link
http://pitch.pe/45346

*Evers, S. & Suhr, B. (2000). Changes of the neurotransmitter serotonin but not of hormones during short time music perception. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, Vol 250(3), 144-147.

What:
Syntonetic, creator of Moodagent music profiling and recommendation technologies, will exhibit at MacWorld 2010 Mobile App Showcase. Moodagent creates instant playlists by utilizing touchscreen sliders to help express the mood of the music in that playlist. The sliders are adjusted to indicate the level of sensual, tender, joyous and aggressive qualities in the music, and to modify the tempo. Additionally, the company offers Moodagent licensing for music distribution services.

This is the first time that Syntonetic will participate in an industry event to demo the Moodagent technology in-person.

For Comment:
Syntonetic will be on hand to discuss Moodagent, as well as the growing popularity of entertainment apps, the state of the so-called ‘saturated’ app market and consumers’ thirst for new, cool technology.

The Moodagent engine represents a different kind of music recommendation that ignores popularity and purchase rates, instead choosing songs based on emotions and music characteristics. Syntonetic will also be available to discuss the implications of recommendation technology on the music industry.

Who:
With more than thirty years experience in the software and hardware industries, Richard French, CEO of Syntonetic, directs the company’s global business strategy, investment, partnering, sales and marketing. French heads the company’s entry into the American and international mobile and online music markets, including establishment of offices in San Francisco, where he is based.

When & Where:
Feb. 11-13
Booth #1366, Kiosk #57, or by appointment
Moscone Center
San Francisco

About Syntonetic
Syntonetic delivers powerful solutions for leading mobile device manufacturers, mobile operators, online music businesses and streaming music services, and provides applications direct to consumers. The company’s intelligent applications automatically decode unique properties within songs, including moods and emotions, to create new music services that attract and retain users, and applications that change the way people listen to music. More than 1,000,000 customers from 187 different countries have synced over 1 billion songs to create instant playlists based on moods and emotions. Syntonetic offices are located in Frederiksberg, Denmark, and San Francisco, Calif., and can be found online at www.syntonetic.com.

Press Contact
Marla Kramer
marla@blend-pr.com
Phone: 615-962-2670

When & Where:
Feb. 11-13
Booth #1366 – The Mobile Application Showcase
Kiosk #57
Moscone Center, San Francisco

You probably know us best for our amazing mobile applications, but we’ll also be there to talk about Moodagent licensing for music distribution services. The Moodagent engine represents a different kind of music recommendation that ignores popularity and purchase rates, instead choosing music based on emotions and music characteristics. Syntonetic will also be available to discuss the implications of recommendation technology on the music industry.

If you’re planning to attend, be sure to stop by. We’d love to meet you and hear about your Moodagent experience. If you don’t have plans to attend, but would like to, click here to register. Can’t make it to the show? Drop us a line and we can schedule another time to meet.

SAN FRANCISCO, January 25, 2010 – Syntonetic Inc., creator of Moodagent music profiling and recommendation technology, today announced plans to modify its business model to offer customers a number of different ways to enjoy Moodagent. The move is intended to help strengthen the company’s fiscal resources and enable it to continue offering the iPhone app for free on iTunes.

Moodagent creates instant playlists by utilizing touchscreen sliders to help express the desired mood of the music added to that playlist. The sliders can be moved up or down to indicate the level of sensual, tender, joyous and aggressive qualities of the desired music, and to adjust the tempo. Additionally, the company continues to work to license the technology for music distribution services.

To start, Syntonetic will employ an advertising-based strategy that will make it possible for customers to continue using Moodagent free of charge. The company plans to work with an ad server provider to help maximize inventory with advertisers that specifically want to target people interested in music. Later, that strategy will be expanded to include mood-based targeting: Advertisers will have the ability to attach mood tags to their ads, enabling the app to serve up ads that correlate to the emotions or mood of the listener’s playlist. A paid, ad-free version will be available for those who do not wish to view ads. Moodagent listeners can expect to see the ads emerge during the early Spring timeframe.

Another potential choice for Moodagent listeners is a Premium vs. Lite option, where certain features would be provided in both the free and paid versions, and other features bundled exclusively into the Premium, non-ad version.

“During the past few months, we have carefully deliberated the best way to market and sell our music profiling and recommendation technology, and ultimately settled on a multi-pronged approach. Since one model may not be enough to sustain the business, we are considering potentially augmenting with three other models as well,” said Richard French, CEO of Syntonetic. “Unlike many in the mobile app arena, Syntonetic has so much more to offer consumers than just a great app. The Moodagent technology has really put the company at an advantage, and we intend to capitalize on that differentiator as much as possible.”

Making the most of the technology behind Moodagent, Syntonetic is looking to put its capacity for music recommendation to work within the mobile app. As music playlists are created based on a persons mood, the Moodagent engine could then recommend music he or she does not already own that would be appropriate for that specific playlist. Moodagent would direct the listener to the iTunes store for purchase as part of the iTunes affiliate program.

Finally, at the request of many Moodagent listeners, Syntonetic is considering an iTunes plug-in that would grant the ability to create playlists using sliders or a seed track on the desktop. The plug-in would also work in conjunction with the listener’s iPhone or iPod Touch.

The first modification of Syntonetic’s business model will occur within the next 2-3 months, with other changes transpiring throughout the rest of 2010.

For a closer look at Moodagent, Syntonetic will exhibit the mobile application and music profiling and recommendation technology at next month’s Macworld 2010, in the Mobile Application Showcase, Booth #1366, Kiosk #57. Moodagent experts will give live demos for event attendees.

About Syntonetic
Syntonetic delivers powerful solutions for leading mobile device manufacturers, mobile operators, online music businesses and streaming music services, and provides applications direct to consumers. The company’s intelligent applications automatically decode unique properties within songs, including moods and emotions, to create new music services that attract and retain users, and applications that change the way people listen to music. More than 1,000,000 customers from 187 different countries have synced over 1 billion songs to create instant playlists based on moods and emotions. Syntonetic offices are located in Frederiksberg, Denmark, and San Francisco, Calif., and can be found online at www.syntonetic.com.

Press Contact
Marla Kramer
marla@blend-pr.com
Phone: 615-962-2670

Pitch Engine link
http://pitch.pe/42295

København, 19.1.2010 – Ét klik på knappen – så er din nye playlist klar til brug. Så enkel er opskriften på succes hos det danske software firma Syntonetic, hvis program til mobilen blot otte uger efter lanceringen bruges af mere end 800.000 mennesker. En lille måned efter lancering i Ovi og iTunes er programmet stadig gratis.

- Folk elsker at høre musik på deres telefon eller iPod, men man ender altid med at lytte til det samme. Moodagent sætter musikken sammen efter brugerens humør og stemning, så man får mere fornøjelse ud af den, siger administrerende direktør Peter Berg Steffensen, Syntonetic.

Programmet findes både i versioner til Nokia-telefoner, hvor programmet hedder Playlist DJ, og så Moodagent, som er til iPhone eller iPod. I Nokias Ovi Store ligger programmet nummer et med over 500.000 downloads. Moodagent i Apples App Store er på lige ca en måned downloadet af 300.000 brugere. Antallet af downloads stiger stødt med ca. 20.000 om dagen. Hos firmaet bag, Syntonetic på Frederiksberg, er begejstringen stor:

- Vi synes da nok, vi havde en god ide – men helt ærligt, hvem skulle have troet, at programmet ville stryge helt til tops så hurtigt. Det er da helt fantastisk, siger Peter Berg Steffensen, der har udviklet Moodagent og Playlist DJ sammen med COO og forretningspartner Mikael Henderson.

Humøret bestemmer playlisten
Moodagent er et musikprogram, som på få sekunder skaber playlister ud fra brugerens musiksamling. Ud af måske 1.000 numre på en telefon vælger Moodagent de 25, der passer til opgaven og begynder at spille det første af dem. Musikken sammensættes ud fra brugerens humør og stemning.

- Udfordringen er at gøre det komplekse simpelt. Moodagent gør det let for folk at skabe en liste af numre, der matcher et humør, stemning eller aktivitet. Brugeren vælger meget enkelt hvor meget sensualitet, passion, glæde, vrede og tempo, der skal være i musikken, og så klarer programmet resten, siger Peter Berg Steffensen.

Årets bedste iPhone applikation
Efter succesfuld lancering på Nokia’s Ovi Store under navnet Playlist DJ, blev Moodagent til iPhone lanceret i slutningen af december og nåede derfor lige præcis at komme med i konkurrencen om at blive årets bedste applikation. Udvalgt blandt 75.000 applikationer er Moodagent nomineret sammen med kun ti andre i kategorien ’mest innovative iPhone applikation 2009’. Vinderen offentliggøres på MacWorld Expo i februar 2010.

- Det er vi selvfølgelig stolte af, men vi er faktisk endnu gladere for de mange hundrede positive anmeldelser, vi har fået af brugere på hos Nokia og iTunes. Det skaber glæde her hos udviklingsteamet på Frederiksberg, kan jeg godt love, afslutter Peter Berg Steffensen.

For yderligere oplysninger kontakt:
Trine Kromann-Mikkelsen
+45 23 968 968
trine@help-pr.dk

http://pitch.pe/42128