EXCLUSIVE CONTENT

On 24th November 2012, WaterTower Music released a freely downloadable app for iOS and Android on Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store respectively. The following is the description of the app:

Introducing the WaterTower Music App. Watch your music come to life with Augmented Reality Content from specially marked WaterTower Music releases. Scan unique CD covers, in-album artwork and posters in the real world and unlock bonus content from the release (special videos, behind the scenes content, interviews, and plenty more).

WaterTower Music App (How To)

This video was published on December 14, 2012 on the Official WaterTower Music YouTube channel with the following description:

How you use and interact with the WaterTower Music App.

• • Fans can unlock extra content such as music, photos and videos.

  • Movie trailers, behind the scenes footage, photo slide shows, and sneak peeks of upcoming music are some of the bonus materials which will be made available to fans using the app.

  • Fans can keep experiencing the soundtracks in news ways as content will continually be added to the app.

The app basically uses the phone’s camera and requires a data connection. All one has to do is open it up and point it at the album artwork. The image recognition technology behind it identifies certain images and streams the video content associated with them.

WaterTower Music App (Opening Sequence)

This video recording illustrates what happens when the app starts up. Once the introductory content completes playing, the phone camera automatically activates.

I have only used this app with The Hobbit soundtracks, but it claims to work with other WaterTower Music releases as well. As far as The Hobbit soundtracks go, the exclusive content is only associated with images in the liner notes included with the Special Editions of the soundtracks. It works with both the physical booklets and their digital equivalents, but there are slight differences between the booklets, so some content is not accessible on them both.

Now how’s all that for 21st century wizardry? Simple yet fun. Like Gandalf’s fireworks. I had a Hobbit-like thrill the first time I flipped through the booklets and pointed the camera at each page, hoping that an image might get recognized. And it was indeed a delight whenever one of them did.

I know many people don’t have smartphones, or if they do, they perhaps missed discovering this content, because like most things of the digital age, mobile app features too come and go with every other software update.

So I thought I might try and capture the magic for all to experience. It was a tedious thing to do because phones don’t allow recording of their screens (for security purposes I imagine). But one finds a way when there’s a whip... or a will, at any rate.

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT FOR

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY

The video recordings below are available by scanning certain pages of the booklets provided with the Special Edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey soundtrack. I have provided the page numbers of the physical and digital booklets for reference.

Creating The Music With Composer Howard Shore (Part I)

Content available by scanning

Physical booklet

Page 1 (Front cover page)

Digital booklet

This video is not available through the digital booklet as the image on Page 1 of the physical booklet does not feature in the digital booklet at all.

Creating The Music With Composer Howard Shore (Part II)

Content available by scanning

Physical booklet

Page 36 (Back cover page)

Digital booklet

Page 2