I always thought Webdoc was extremely poorly named. While the platform had been used by record labels for fan engagement and marketing, the name really did not work. Pretty much any fool could see this and it’s amazing how long the team there took to realize this. Webdoc screams: ‘Microsoft Word on the Web’. Or something. Anyway, I digress.
It’s no surprise then that the startup has relaunched with the more digestible name Urturn and some improved product features. So far it’s still free, as clearly they are trying to build scale and monetize. This of this as a meme-generator for artists and bands which those lovely record labels can control.
Previously users could create collages with images, videos, text and audio, but Urturn has added to this other kinds of ‘expression templates,’ as it calls them, that allow you to, for instance, recreate a famous album cover and add other things such as an audio clip. In other words this is a platform to let the fans run wild and promote the music at the same time. In fact it goes quite far, allowing the use of HTML, CSS and even JavaScript via an API, still in beta.
The result can be shared and embedded in websites, along with a ‘Your Turn’ button that prompts people to create their own collages and remixes of music artwork and multimedia around an artist.
Bands like One Direction have used it with some success, and record labels Interscope Records, Polydor, Columbia and RCA have been signed up to apply it to artists such as One Republic, Mindless Behavior, 50 Cent, Ellie Goulding, The Saturdays, Alicia Keys, and Pink.