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The top ten trends in apps
By Music Ally, Published in Sandbox on June 2, 2011
Music? There are just a few apps for that. The music industry is as enthusiastic about apps as brands and other creative industries, which can be both a good and bad thing. Good, because there’s some genuinely exciting experimentation going on in the music apps field. Bad, because inevitably, the hype will fuel some projects that fall a long way short of delivering a return on their investment. We have been covering the music apps space for nearly three years now, and have noticed a clear uptick in the number of innovative apps being released in 2011.
With that in mind, here’s our guide to some of the key trends that we’re seeing in the space, with an emphasis on the kind of features making their way into apps for artists and music brands.
1. Album as App
We’ll gracefully sidestep UMG’s coining of the term ‘applum’ to describe a Cold War Kids app in April, but it’s true that there are a few examples of apps as albums this year.
Swedish House Mafia’s impressive iPad app pulled in video and book content alongside the music from their Until One album, while dance label Southern Fried released a compilation simultaneously as a CD, a digital download and an app.
The trend is not confined to music though. Warner Bros has released several movies as apps, including Inception, The Dark Knight and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, where the content is streamed in, and paid for using Apple’s in-app purchases system.
2. Exclusive content
One trend that’s coming through loud and clear is the idea of using apps to distribute extra and/or exclusive content, rather than simply promoting albums, tours and merchandise. Actually rewarding fans for getting the app, in other words.
The Streets’ Mike Scanner app uses barcode-scanning technology to encourage fans to unlock extra music, for example. Man Parrish is premiering new and in-progress music and videos through his official app, while that Cold War Kids ‘applum’ offered artwork, lyrics and liner notes to complement the (iTunes-bought) music.
Including the actual music requires publishing rights – something that can still prove difficult even within major companies that include both label and publisher groups – but we expect to see more of this in the coming months.
3. Remix a lot
There are many, many artist-based remix apps on iPhone, with a number of startups touting their own platforms as suitable for letting fans monkey about with the music of their favourite artists. Motorhead, Ricky Martin and the Plain White Tees are three of the more surprising examples to have got the treatment this year.
While startups Bounce Mobile and Skyrockit appear to have the most potential to cut through the App Store clutter, it’s a fact that the business case for remix apps remains somewhat unclear. Do they make a lot of money for the artists whose music is featured? We’re betting not, at least so far.
4. Music making
Something that might prove to be more interesting than remix apps is the area of music creation apps – where artists have provided samples rather than full songs. Gorillaz’ partnership with Korg for an iElectribe iPad app recently was a good example, and one born out of Damon Albarn actually using the original non-branded app to make music.
Kraftwerk’s Kling Klang Machine and Deadmau5 Remix (despite the name) both had a similar emphasis on playing with sounds and samples, rather than trying to remix individual songs. From soundtoys to serious music-making tools, there is clearly scope for partnerships between artists and developers.
5. Streaming mixes
This week saw UK startup Mixcloud release its iPhone app, after a lengthy approval process. It’s very impressive, serving up DJ mixes, radio shows and podcasts from the Mixcloud service, and providing easy tools to find new content.
It’s far from the only game in town on the DJ mix front though. Play.fm and V-Moda Musique both beat MixCloud onto the App Store with their own streaming mix apps earlier this year. For a DJ, there is certainly no shortage of options to distribute mixes to mobile handsets, although we wonder if as 2011 goes on, there will be scope for more links between these aggregation apps and the official apps of DJs and artists.
6. Music games
On consoles, the music game genre is currently in a fallow period, but on mobile devices it continues to thrive. The Tap Tap Revenge juggernaut continues to roll, with Lady Gaga the first artist to get a Revenge game based on an individual album (Born This Way) rather than her overall catalogue. Although her two previous Revenge games covered that too.
However, we’ve also seen karaoke – Roxette SingBox – and quiz games – Rhino Musical Aptitude and Now Presents Rock Guru. The latter two are interesting for their label links, with WMG and UMG respectively, making use of their back catalogues without the actual music.
The doldrums of console music gaming will also fuel innovation in the apps space, as developers peel off from shuttered studios to try their hand at mobile music gaming.
7. Gamification
Yes, it’s a horrible buzzword spouted by social media ‘gurus’ who spend more time pontificating at conferences than doing useful work. But there’s still something in this idea of applying game mechanics to apps and services that aren’t games.
Erykah Badu and The Roots have both used FanTrail’s platform for their apps, which rewards fans with more personal content as they increase their fan score through activities and purchases. Owl City tried a similar idea with his official app, and we wrote a lot about the impressive Short Stack app last year, which was heavily gamified.
The idea is even spreading to non-branded music apps, like AudioVroom, which wraps a points and rewards system around Pandora-style streaming and social location.
8. Brand involvement
The excitement of brands and their agencies about apps – allied to their existing interest in music partnerships – has seen several brands involved in music apps this year.
Microsoft sponsored a Katy Perry Revenge iPhone game to promote its Bing search engine, for example. Red Bull published a breakdancing game with a licensed soundtrack, while headphones brand V-Moda put its name to a streaming DJ mixes app (see section 5). OK Go teamed with Range Rover for their location-based app project, and Nissan launched its own music mixing app.
We expect to see more brands attached to music apps in the coming months, especially when they can offset some of the risks of investing in this area.
9. Location and music
This year’s SXSW saw an explosion of startups touting apps that blended music with location features, reflecting a wider burst of innovation around location in the app development industry.
It’s also creeping into artist apps, often with a creative spin. Bluebrain just released their National Mall album-app, which offers three hours of music that changes according to the listener’s position in the National Mall in Washington, DC. A niche app, admittedly, but one that’s got lots of coverage.
Starbucks ran a mobile scavenger hunt based on Lady Gaga, OK Go got fans to track their own locations in a GPS parade, and the BBC rolled out a mobile web check-in app for its Big Weekend festival. These are the tip of the iceberg.
10. Photo sharing
Another hot apps area for startups (and VCs) is photo sharing and manipulation. Instagram, Picplz and Color are three examples of photo-sharing apps that have secured millions in funding and plentiful column inches on the tech blogs.
And the music angle? Look at the new Lady Gaga – Monster In You app, which lets fans warp their facial photos with Gaga-esque implants. Neon Trees’ app was more about people ‘animalising’ themselves. The Black Eyed Peas’ BEP360 also wanted to get fans sharing photos, once they’d got past the augmented reality video feature that seized the headlines.
We’re just as interested in the way artists can use the existing photo-sharing apps though. Moby tapped Instagram for his recent (web) campaign, while Snoop Dogg was one of the first artists with a profile on that service. Meanwhile, Color did a deal with the US Sweetlife Festival to get attendees using it.
More information:
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