Mon Dec 13, 2010 3:38am EST
DENVER (Billboard) - The app is far too powerful a tool to be limited to mobile phones.
In 2010, the developer and music industries took bold steps to apply this burgeoning distribution model to a range of new devices and platforms. Take Pandora, the personalized Internet radio service that became the killer app for music on the iPhone when it was first introduced in 2008. Having expanded to every available smart-phone platform, the Pandora app has since jumped to such new devices as the iPad, Internet-connected TVs and even automobiles, as more consumer electronics device manufacturers eagerly enter the app game.
"The smart-phone phenomenon is the catalyst for all this stuff," Pandora founder Tim Westergren says. "It got consumers to begin using apps in all of these places, whether it was taking an iPhone and plugging it into the dashboard or docking it into your stereo system. So that caused all these other device manufacturers to accelerate their own app plans."
At the same time, record labels seeking new methods of distribution and marketing found the multiplatform app environment a perfect solution for reaching fans across the digital landscape. Artist apps that began as simple website clones are now far more engaging experiences -- be it a mobile app, a social game or a dedicated channel on Internet TV services.
"It's my focus and my team's focus to extend app development to all platforms," Island Def Jam (IDJ) senior VP of digital and business development Jon Vanhala says. "It's especially important to find fans where they're living."
Where are they living? Here's a quick snapshot of the new app platforms that emerged this year and how they're shaping the future of digital music strategy.
IPAD
"I've got 50 app treatments in my inbox for the iPad," Vanhala says. "If this was all I did, I'd be busy."
The iPad's larger screen, higher resolution and unique positioning as both a home and mobile device has labels, artists and developers excited about its potential as a source of music discovery, engagement and even creation.
Tap Tap Revenge 3 developers Tapulous expanded the iPhone rhythm game to the iPad in Tap Tap Radiation. Ocarina developers Smule created the Magic Piano simulation app in time for the iPad's launch and has since developed a sequel in Magic Fiddle. And there have also been a number of other music-based apps -- such as the critically acclaimed Aweditorium app, which lets users stream artists' music while also browsing high-resolution photos, reading lyrics, discovering related artists, watching video interviews and more -- that demonstrate how the iPad could provide consumers 360-degree engagement with an artist's creative output.
"We are actively looking at how an app provides a new experience for delivering music," Vanhala says.
SOCIAL NETWORKING
While Facebook isn't a device like the iPhone or the iPad, it is a platform for app development, and one the music industry is becoming increasingly interested in exploiting. So far music apps are few and far between. There's Nightclub City from Booyah, Platinum Life from Heatwave Interactive and a smattering of others. But what activity there is has proved effective.
For example, during the summer, Kiss' management firm McGhee Entertainment promoted a concert by the band to Nightclub City's 14 million members, which included streaming the concert live within the app, making several tracks available as playable music within the game and selling such virtual merchandise as Kiss masks for users' avatars. During the three-week campaign, Kiss songs were streamed more than 16 million times, and the promotion resulted in a 750% increase in Kiss' Facebook friends.
"A lot of people in the music industry don't realize how many people are playing these games," McGhee Entertainment head of strategic marketing Nathan Gregory says. "If that's where they are, that's where we need to be to promote artists."
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