It’s been longer than I imagined, perhaps longer than I re-imagined as the deadlines came and went, but we’ve finally released a new version of gigglemusic, our social network app for musicians. It’s nicer, it’s prettier, it’s easier to use and it does more than it ever did before.

Of course, I should know about software – I’ve been managing software development projects for more than thirty years – and I know it takes longer than you think to get something done, but, to be frank, even I hadn’t anticipated how complex it is to upload, compress, chop, store and prepare images, audio and video files for re-transmission to gigglemusic users. Hats off to Facebook, Instagram and all the rest. (I wish we had their budgets.)

So, what’s new in gigglemusic 1.6?

The big change is that you can now post pics, audio files and video files and see the media posts of friends, the people you follow, and users who share groups with you. You can like and comment. And if there’s something offensive about what you see (not including, please, that you don’t like the music they’re playing or the way they play it) you can report the posts you think we should remove (in the end we decide whether to follow your advice).

We’ve also improved graphics and navigation.

And we’ve loaded masses of data:

If you’re a music lover you can find 30,000 events all over the world. And don’t forget, you can publicise your own, or your groups’ events too.

If you’re looking for opportunities, there are nearly 600 professional jobs listed in gigglemusic, consolidated from European and American websites. But don’t forget (and this is the main point), you can offer gigs and jobs yourself if you’re looking for someone to play with, or if your group needs more players.

You can offer items for sale.

You can publicise your business.

You can look for musicians, teachers and other music lovers around you.

You can also endorse others if you feel inclined and publicise your own skills, experience and qualifications.

And you can keep a diary of your commitments so that others can check your availability.

There’ll be more to come in future versions.

Download gigglemusic from the App Store or from Google Play.