The popularity of the Internet and multimedia has increased the need for rapid diffusion of culture in new formats with new capabilities. Since its beginnings, music has never shied away from incorporating the latest technological advances to maximise expressive power. Its pioneering role in the use of Internet technology to broadcast audio and music files continues to break new boundaries.

Currently, music distributions mainly utilise paper, CD or similar media. New distribution formats, such as symbolic machine representation, digital audio and optical imaging, open new avenues for research. The development of the Internet technologies introduces strong impact on system architectures and business processes in this domain. New national and international regulations and policies are changing the music distribution mechanisms in important ways. Novel distribution models, development and application of pervasive computing and multimedia also influents this multi-disciplinary field profoundly.

WEDELMUSIC-2003 aims to explore these major topics in music-related fields, to address novel approaches for distributing music to larger audiences, providing wider access and encouraging broader participation. The impact of these developments on cultural heritage will be considered, together with their availability to people with limited access to classical archives and libraries. In particular, proposals and solutions benefiting visually-impaired people are encouraged, to let everybody access this large and hidden cultural heritage. Tools for disabled people will contribute to broadening their music playing and enjoyment.

The conference focuses on both the challenges posed by the Internet in its role as a major player for business changes and music distribution, as well as opportunities as a new infrastructure for enabling technology. In addition, this conference seeks to promote discussion and interaction between researchers, practitioners, developers and users of tools, technology transfer experts, and project managers. Of particular interest is the exchange of concepts, prototypes, research ideas, and other results which could both contribute to the academic arena and also benefit business and the industrial community. WEDELMUSIC-2003 will bring together a variety of participants to address not only different technical issues, but also the impact of Internet on the preservation of cultural heritage.

Topics of interest include, but are not restricted to, the following aspects:

Protection formats and tools for music Transaction models for delivering music Business models for publishers Copyright ownership protection High quality Audio Coding Watermarking techniques for various media types Formats and models for distribution Music manipulation and analysis Music and tools for impaired people - Braille Publishers and distributors servers Multimedia streaming and delivery MPEG-7 and MPEG-21 Viewing and listening tools for music Music editing and manipulation Music education techniques Databases for institutions: publishers, libraries, theatres, etc. Content based retrieval Conversion aspects, techniques and tools Music imaging, music sheet digitalisation, techniques and tools Music and pervasive computing Music transcoding Music and cultural heritage valorisation RESEARCH PAPERS Papers should describe original and significant work in the research and practice of the main topics listed above. Research case studies, applications and experiments are particularly welcome. Papers should be limited to approx. 2000-5000 words (8 pages) in length. Of the accepted paper, 8 pages will be published in the conference proceedings. SHORT PAPERS/POSTERS Shorter research papers on work-in-progress, interim results, advanced topic position paper and current research initiatives are also welcome. Submissions should be limited to approx. 2000 words (4 pages) in length. Of the accepted paper, 4 pages will be published in the conference proceedings. APPLICATIONS and INDUSTRIAL PAPERS Proposals for presentations of Applications and Tools are also welcome. These may consist of experience reports from actual utilisation of tools, industrial practice and models, or tool demonstrations. Application proposals will be reviewed based on their description and demo (if appropriate). A one-page summary of the accepted proposal will be published in the conference proceedings. ALL submissions and proposals should be written in English and submitted in PDF format via email to wdm03@leeds.ac.uk by 1st April 2003. Proceedings will be published by the IEEE Computer Society. For additional information please contact wedelmusic@dsi.unifi.it

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