For years, the music industry was largely left alone by tech innovators. However, it seems as if we’re in the middle of a boom. New ideas are being brought to market at an astonishing pace, which begs the question: What does the future hold?

The Hottest Music Tech Trends

For years, people were afraid that technology would somehow adversely impact the integrity of music. The argument was that music has been around for centuries without the interference of advanced technology – so why now?

But that mindset has slowly loosened over the past decade and a new generation of musicians – people who have been raised with advanced technology their whole lives – is creating a marketplace for these products.

There’s still a lot of progress to be made in this area, but we’re beginning to see some positive results in the music tech space. Here are three specific products and developments we’re seeing in the marketplace:

PageFlip Firefly

For those who play sheet music, few things are as frustrating as having to turn the pages of the music when they’re playing their instrument. This is especially true when you’re just learning a song, as it can mess up the entire timing and totally throw you off.

Recognizing this pain point, PageFlip has developed the Firefly – a Bluetooth page turner that supports tablets and allows the musician to change pages with a simple tap of the foot. PageFlip also works with almost any music software and allows users to scroll music in forward or reverse directions at any speed (as opposed to turning an entire page at a time). Customers say the product is highly intuitive and works straight out of the box.

Dorico Scoring Software

Music scoring is something that amateur and professional musicians like to try out. However, in most cases, scoring music requires access to a bunch of different resources, outrageously expensive software, and lots of other individual components. Well, not anymore.

Steinberg’s new Dorico music scoring software is a huge leap forward in music scoring and allows musicians and composers to focus on the things that matter, while blocking out the distractions that don’t. With a streamlined workflow, powerful project management features, and a graphical experience that’s never been seen before, Dorico can be considered a work of art itself. 

Ossic X Headphones

While most people don’t know any different, traditional headphones actually do a poor job of mimicking the way our ears naturally absorb and perceive sound in the real world. Think of them like a big pair of jeans. Sure, they may fit most people, but they don’t really fit in the sense that they hug each individual’s curves and provide a comfortable experience. In order to fully enjoy a pair of jeans, they need to be tailor fit to the individual’s body.

Ossic X headphones are to traditional headphones what custom-fit jeans are to a basic pair you buy off the rack at Walmart. As the Ossic X developers explain, “By pairing advanced 3D-audio algorithms with head-tracking and individual anatomy calibration, we deliver incredibly accurate 3D sound to your ears — increasing the sense of auditory space, and acoustically recreating the way you hear the world everyday.”

Ossic X actually started as a Kickstarter project, where it raised $2.7 million, and is now accepting pre-orders.

Exciting Innovation Awaits

There’s still some friction between the music community and tech innovators, but a younger generation of musicians is more accepting than ever of new developments. The gadgets and products highlighted in this article are just the beginning. In the years to come, you can expect to see lots of new and exciting things.