Muziic – 15 Year Old's Creation Might Anger YouTube

It's surprising to know the highs and lows that kids these days reach, and today's article is about a particular high point – David Nelson, a 15 year-old software developer, managed to create Muziic, a music application that can turn YouTube into a veritable playlist factory. And yup, it's free.

YouTube streams music and music videos for free on its website, and arguably has the largest library you can find anywhere. You know what they used to say – if you want the best on-demand music service anywhere in the world, just go to YouTube and close your eyes. Apparently this gave David an idea.




Muziic basically links your PC to YouTube. From Muziic, you can browse YouTube's collections and add your favorite tracks to playlists. As long as you're connected to the Internet (and as long as your connection is fast enough), you'll be able to stream the music for free.

This may sound like a lot of other music streaming software out on the Internet, and in many aspects it is. The only difference is that Muziic sources its music and music videos straight from YouTube, stepping over any legal spike strips that the big recording companies may have. What's more, YouTube has some music choices that you can't find anywhere else.

Of course, this'll probably ruffle up some feathers in Google, which owns YouTube. While streaming music is free, YouTube gets its revenue through ads placed on its website. Muziic bypasses most of the ads, and any ads that YouTube might embed in its videos are too small to see in Muziic's video screen.

The whole Muziic scene might also put some of the recording labels on edge. Remember Napster? It was also developed by a teenager (Shawn Fanning), and according to some pundits, it almost destroyed the industry. I have a feeling that Muziic doesn't have that kind of destructive capability, but I don't doubt either that Google is going to sit on its hands on this one.

So what's going to happen? My guess is that either Google's going to shut Muziic down by legal means, or it's going to buy the service and turn it into an ad-supported piece of software. Naturally, I prefer the latter. I haven't had the chance to test Muziic yet (since, darn it, it's only available for Windows), and getting YouTube's blessing may pave the way for a Mac version down the line.

As we do most of the time, let's wait and see.