mobile music

Band Apps Get Sound Around [Launch]

By Ryan Van Etten on 06/30/2010

Last week I told the story behind the new band apps-as-a-service startup, Sound Around, whose mantra is ‘iPhone apps for every band.’ Today they rock their full-on launch. Want to get in on this action and try Sound Around free for three months? Well, you’re in the right place because we have a couple promo codes to dish out to bands or musicians.

Posted in Apps, iPhone Apps, Music, Music Flux, News | Tagged app services, bands, CMS, communication, demo, direct-to-fan, integration, iPhone, launch, mobile, mobile music, music apps, musicians, promo code, service, social media, Sound Around | 2 Responses

Sound Around: 2 Bros, 1 Mission.

By Ryan Van Etten on 06/22/2010

The story of the new mobile music startup, Sound Around, starts in 2009, in a little place called Raleigh, North Carolina, where brothers Scott and Steve Klein had been brainstorming tech startup ideas. Both were students at NC State, but with opposite majors—nearly yin and yang. Add entrepreneurial DNA, and they’re Pinky and The Brain.

Posted in Apps, Editorial, iPhone Apps, Music, Music Flux, Narrative, News, Popular | Tagged app services, business, development, entrepreneurs, indie, interaction, iPhone, Lauchbox Digital, MobBase, mobile, mobile dev, mobile music, music apps, music startup, musicians, NC State, Pinky and The Brain, platform, resources, service, smartphones, social music, Sound Around, startup story, startups, story-driven, TechStars | 2 Responses

Musician Apps—What Do Fans Want? 5 Key Components.

By Ryan Van Etten on 05/12/2010

Last year I covered four platforms that musicians can use to build iPhone apps—Mobile Roadie, MobBase, iLike, and Kyte. Sound Around is another one, and is currently in private beta. Discussion from yesterday’s autoplay poll got me asking myself, “what do fans really want in an artist app?” I thought about it for a while and came up with 5 key components.

Posted in Apps, Design, Discussion, iPhone Apps, Music, Music Flux, Popular | Tagged app design, app services, artist channels, communication, community, development, direct-to-fan, fans, geotagging, ideas, iPhone, key components, Kyte, location, MobBase, mobile, mobile music, Mobile Roadie, music apps, musicians, networks, services, social media, Sound Around | 4 Responses

Social Rocks. Mobility Rolls. Music Trends 2009–2010.

By Ryan Van Etten on 12/31/2009

Pandora is blowing music consumption off the grid. Myriad digital choices are sending audio junkies into sensory overload—music wants to be everywhere. The stage is lit—music has always been social, and the web continues to make it even more so. Communication is on the rise.

Posted in Apps, Editorial, Gaming, iPhone Apps, Music, Music Flux, Popular, Visual | Tagged Activision, Amie Street, analysis, AOL Music, Apps, blip.fm, ccMixter, chart, collaboration, comparison, consumption, Creative Commons, deezer, Delicious, Digidrummer, DJ Hero, DJing, EA Mobile, emusic, facebook, friends, games, gigzee, Grooveshark, Guitar Rock Tour, Harmonix, Hip Hop All Star, Hype Machine, iheart radio, iLike, Imeem, Indaba Music, indie, influencers, iPhone, iTunes, jamble music mashups, jamendo, jamglue, Lala, last.fm, Looptastic, mashups, mobile, mobile music, mobility, MOG, music gaming, music industry, music sites, musicians, musicovery, MySpace, Napster, networks, NIN, NLog Synth, pandora, predictions, project playlist, PureVolume, recommendation engine, ReverbNation, Rhapsody, rhythm games, Rock Band Network, scratching, Second Life, seeqpod, sensory overload, Sirius, Slacker Radio, social intelligence, social media, social music, songza, soundcloud, spotify, stats, streaming, Tap Tap Revenge, Tapulous, The Beatles Rock Band, thesixtyone, tinysong, trends, twisten.fm, ustream, Vevo, video, Virtuoso Piano, visualization, we7, your friends are your filter, YouTube | 6 Responses

Moodagent iPhone App Plays Music Based On Your Mood.

By Ryan Van Etten on 12/21/2009

Syntonetic has launched Moodagent—a recommendation/playlisting app based on a user’s mood and emotion—for iPhone/iPod Touch. They have a Nokia smartphone version too, dubbed Playlist DJ. Moodagent syncs with an existing music library and users adjust moods with five sliders—sensual, tender, joy, aggressive and tempo.

Posted in Apps, iPhone Apps, Music, News, Nokia Apps, Reviews | Tagged app review, Apps, audio, data, emotion, free, iPhone, iTunes, launch, library, listeners, mobile music, mood, moodagent, music apps, music discovery, Nokia, Playlist DJ, playlists, preview, profiling, recommendation engine, science, social music, syntonetic, technology, tempo, video | 9 Responses

Lala, Apple, Mobile Music, and Cloud-Based Streaming

By Ryan Van Etten on 12/07/2009

Tweets about Apple acquiring Lala have been flooding Twitter for 3+ days now. A number of sources have provided news and analysis on the acquisition. Personally I think Apple aims to move iTunes to the web in an effort to control mobile cloud-based music streaming via iPhones and iPods. Mobility is paramount, and I think that buying Lala was a sound move for Apple.

Posted in Editorial, Music, Music Flux, Popular | Tagged access vs. ownership, acquisition, Amie Street, analysis, Apple, cloud, cloud computing, compete, development, digital, Grooveshark, ideas, iPhone, iTunes, Lala, last.fm, libraries, mobile, mobile music, mobility, MOG, music discovery, music industry, music sites, networks, payments, platform, process, reactions, sharing, simplification, social music, spotify, startups, stats, streaming, tweets, Twitter, UX | 5 Responses

3 iPhone App Creation Platforms For Musicians

By Ryan Van Etten on 11/03/2009

Enter the mobile music frontier—the age of the app is here—and you don’t need to be a developer to create your own iPhone app anymore. Here are ~~three~~ four platforms that enable artists to build their own custom mobile applications.

Posted in Apps, Editorial, iPhone Apps, Music, Music Flux, Popular, Reviews | Tagged Android, app review, app services, Apple, Apps, bands, Blackberry, development, facebook, framework, geotagging, iLike, integration, IODA, iPhone, iTunes, Kyte, localized, location, m-commerce, media, MixMatchMusic, MobBase, mobile, mobile music, Mobile Roadie, mobility, musicians, MySpace, Nokia, platform, promo code, revenue, services, social media, social music, streaming, Twitter, YouTube | 9 Responses