In Germany I was at one point attending a book launch about ye olde ‘industrial music culture’ which quickly became tedious in a very hot, very overcrowded basement room. Much more interesting was a young man also waiting, sharing with me an album format I’ve never seen before. To my eternal shame I didn’t catch his name but rather his interest in a format called KiT … meaning Keep In Touch. It wasn’t clear how this worked, but since I’ve followed up and I can use this video to best explain:
It’s apparently a South Korean invention and used by a fair few K-Pop bands. He very kindly gave me an album (or was that a mistake?) to examine and I’m still puzzled about how it would work in practice.
You get a small box, smaller but taller than a CD. Inside is an even smaller box about the size of a fob watch, some cards that act as a sleeve, as well as a chain that can be attached to the fob – for your purse? You need to install an app, then bring the fob next to your phone. The album doesn’t load from the hardware, instead the fob authenticates a download from an online server. It’s a physical key. You then have the album for 24 hours before it expires, or when you load up another album in its place. There is no expiry date (unless of course the server is taken down).
But Why?
To an old guy this seems a bit crazy. The closest thing I can think of is mini disc, but that can have many albums on a disc and you can record your own. KiT seems to be mostly a gamification of music playback. But then – when I hear people become orgasmic about surface noise and dropping a needle on vinyl and flipping the B side of a single… isn’t this much the same ritual? If vinyl is an experience, so is KiT. The question is about maximising the pleasure this might bring.
Obviously streaming is the easiest solution. Want a thing – stream it – done. All else appears to be artificial difficulty that creates a sense of worth. Cannot have = Want more. I appreciate KiT as a new design of denial, but I believe there are other kinds of denial that are less expensive and more flexible.
Here’s a page with some technical information.
Would you make an album like this? Or something better?
Ephemera and ownership are two core elements in any format I purchase. KiT fails for me in both regards. The album is gone in a day unless authentication is renewed. Time-based access is a form of rent, not a possession. The listener is forever reliant on a third party to maintain the album and its playback software.
I view the renewed focus on physical media as a partial expression of these core issues. Bandcamp succeeds in providing an unencumbered digital file which can be archived in an uncompressed or lossless file format. The .WAV format, for example, has been used for over thirty years. It shows no hint of disappearing and is near universally readable.
There are many other elements at play in the discussion of technology, formats, and an album’s physical interaction. I’ll conclude with one: How often might one expect a KiT album to be listened to through even a moderate quality, two speaker, stereo system?
…KiT does allow you to instantly share an album with someone and guarantee you get it back! As you say, keep the physical fob on your keychain. When talking with a friend about music, you can use it to instantly share it for a day. Keep the fob; let their phone read the fob only.
In that manner, it does enhance the experience of sharing streaming music you own offline. Trying to write down a full web address, or verbally telling them to “look it up” rarely goes anywhere and kills the conversation. Otherwise, you’re copying the files to a usb–now they own it, and you’ve illegally distributed the artist’s work. Maybe this is the real problem KiT solves?
Hello! I did not know where else best to reach out, but I loved the More No video on YouTube. I am really interested in seeing the Tate-LaBianca drawings by Tara Ellard, but I could not find them anywhere. Is there someplace I could find them?
Really liking the music, Led
I’ve spoken with Tara and I’ll see what she wants to do about this. Cheers.
Ehhh another bit of plastic. I don’t see any longevity for it. It’ll be cute for the kids to share all things, but it will be forgotten.