LSM Newswire

Friday, December 4, 2009


’ÄúWhere shall we go tonight?’Äù


If you're a classical music lover, the answer is often ’ÄúI don't know. I have no idea what's on.’Äù


Looking for listings on your web-enabled smartphone sounds like a good idea, but the screen's too small, the websites are too slow and the whole experience is too tedious.


Until now.


Bachtrack today announces the release of a new mobile app which allows you to search for what's on in classical music, opera and ballet - anywhere. There are over 7,000 forthcoming performances, with more being added every day.


The app works on the majority of phones with modern browsers: it has been tested on iPhone, Blackberry, Android and larger Nokia phones.

  • The app works fast. Very fast. Clever encoding of the data makes the app work OK even when the mobile network is running slow.
  • The design is clean and simple, specially adapted to a small screen. The text is a size you can read, even when there are a lot of events on a page. The buttons are a size you can press, even with large fingers.
  • It's exceptionally easy to pick what to search for using the "What, When, Where and Who" buttons: you get an immediate list of performances which you can narrow down using the "Refine" button.
  • Clicking on an event brings up the most important facts: date, venue, performers and what they're playing. You also get a link to the Maps application and, where possible, direct links to booking pages.

The Bachtrack for mobile app is faster, more flexible and easier to use than any other mobile event finder - and it's the first application to bring such super fast, high quality search of classical music events to a broad variety of mobile platforms.


To try it out, point your mobile's browser at m.bachtrack.com. The app is designed to work on any phone with a modern, CSS/Javascript capable browser and a screen width of 240 pixels or above. You can also see a short screencam demonstration at bachtrack.com/bachtrack-for-mobile.


Bachtrack will also be releasing special editions of the app to run as packaged applications for the most common mobile platforms. The first of these, "Bachtrack for iPhone" is currently awaiting approval at the iTunes App Store and will be available as a free download immediately on completion of approvals. A version for the Google Android operating system is currently in development.


Notes to Editors: Bachtrack.com was started in January 2008 by David and Alison Karlin as a definitive concert, opera and ballet finder, first in the UK and subsequently across the world. People from any country can register on the site and request to add their forthcoming programme of events, and if they input this themselves there is no charge. In creating this browsable calendar of events the Karlins believe more people will attend classical events, and those who already go to concerts will find more events that they wish to see because finding out what's on in classical music is now very easy and quick. The mobile app simply takes this concept one stage further, allowing people to make decisions on the evening of performance itself.


Bachtrack.com

  • Aggregates information on classical music, opera and ballet performances, allowing you to find on one site what's being performed across the world.

  • Enables you to find out what's on locally to you, or to discover what's on in the area of the country you are visiting.

  • Allows you to start with any conceivable criteria for search, from What (composer or ballet title), Where (in which country, region/ state or city), Who (performer, opera or ballet company, orchestra or ensemble) or When (today's date, or any time in the future).

  • You can then refine your search, adding fresh criteria to narrow the number of events in view.

  • Lets you set alerts to be informed automatically your favourite performer is playing in your region.

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