The talent show format has fallen out of favour. American Idol viewers fell 66% in three years, and only three seasons of The X Factor were made in the US before it was dropped. Can interactive programme Rising Star bring the talent show back into people’s living rooms?

The long-anticipated Spotify rival Beats Music features a combination of human and computer curation to provide subscribers with playlists that can be time- or mood-specific, "just for you", or compiled by respected music publications.

Shapes Music is a new iPad app that pulls thousands of music videos from YouTube, superimposing a keyboard outline over the top so people can play along. The simple system can be used by anyone, even if they don't have time to learn an instrument.

In America, there are thousands of people – like Girls character Marnie – honing a desire for musical stardom off the back of shows like The Voice and American Idol. Enter StarMaker: the community-based karaoke app turned talent scouting tool.