By: Doug Cheong

Taking Music to the App Store

The great thing about music on the web is that it is relatively new. This means that you have the opportunity to start new trends and to be the pioneers of new forms of distribution and marketing. Bringing your band to Apple’s IPhone application store (app store) is an example of how some artists are using the platform to their advantage. T-Pain did just that with the “I am T-Pain” app which allowed users to download a version of the Antares AutoTune Plug-in onto their IPhone. Now anyone can get the famous T-Pain sound for a small fee. They can even record their own songs onto the IPhone using the app and upload them to the web. Watch as T-Pain teaches recording artists Ludacris and Shawna how to use the “I am T-Pain” app on his IPhone.

Now even Indie artists are cashing in on the platform with Shinobi Ninja (an independent rock/rap group from Brooklyn) releasing their own IPhone App called; “Brooklyn to Babylon: Shinobi Ninja Attacks!” The Application is a game where users can chose their favorite Shinobi Ninja band member and battle their way through the streets in order to get to a club where they will “Rock Out”.  Hypebot.com posted this today;

“In what the band says is a first for music and gaming iPhone apps, “Shinobi Ninja Attacks” also leverages smartphone GPS tracking capability at concerts to locate and reward fans who have installed the app. A “lite” version is available free from the App Store and the fully loaded retail version sells for $3.99.Read More . . .

I think this is a great idea. Users can listen to the band’s music while playing a game and unlocking more of the bands content. Offering GPS tracking to reward fans is the icing on the cake. Shinobi Ninja gives added incentives for fans to attend their shows. It’s nice to see that independent artists are able to use the same resources as the big boys in order to get exposure.

Check out the I Am T-Pain website.

Check out Shinobi Ninja on myspace.com

Check out Shinobi Ninja on Twitter

Technorati Tags: App Store, indie, Indie Music, iphone, iphone app, music, Music app, Music Culture, Music Promotion, music technology

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 5th, 2010 at 2:26 pm and is filed under Music Culture, Music Gaming, Music Promotion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.