Sign in to view
member only content

We’ve written about several sites that help travellers plan their routes, but not until recently had we come across one that incorporates accompanying music. Sure enough, though, a new site from UK-based sound system manufacturer Harman Kardon does just that, giving users an entire playlist of location-inspired music to listen to during their trip. Users of Amplified Journeys, which is now in beta 1.0 and free to use, begin by entering the starting point and destination for their trip, along with an artist or the musical genre or mood they’re interested in. Amplified Journeys then puts together a set of detailed driving directions with an accompanying playlist including tracks inspired by landmarks and artists from points along the way. A trip from Paris to Munich focusing on dance music, for example, returns a playlist of some 110 tracks that can be clicked on for more information, edited, and then exported to iTunes. Harman Kardon recently demonstrated Amplified Journeys through a series of features in TopGear magazine, each covering a different musical journey: Glasgow to London via Manchester, for example, along with tours of Los Angeles, Detroit and Berlin. A video on YouTube, meanwhile, demonstrates the site at work. Music and travelling have always been a natural mix, so what better way to advertise Harman Kardon’s products—and create some nice goodwill—than by giving away a little musical free love? This could become hygiene in the trip-planning world! (Related: Louis Vuitton’s walking tours of Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai.) Spotted by: Elizabeth Morrissey