hypebot

Apple Will Help You Create & Sell Multimedia Music Projects For The iPad

Guest post by Bob Baker of TheBuzzFactor.

Apple caused a stir some weeks ago when it launched iBooks Author, a new free app that indie authors and book publishers can use to create multimedia ebooks for the iPad. Another great thing about this development is that Apple is giving content creators a way to take the titles they produce with the new app and sell them (or give them away) in the iBooks Store.

What does this have to do with you and your music?

ShareSquare Offers Quick & Easy HTML5 Mobile Sites For Musicians, Bloggers

ShareSquare, once known primarily for its mobile QR Code campaigns, has expanded its services to offer an HTML5 mobile website creator. Basically ShareSquare detects content and design elements on your original site, if you have one, and "mobilizes" those elements by prepopulating related modules to create the initial version of your mobile site.  So instead of being faced with a bunch of initial choices, you begin with a site that draws together feeds and sometimes even fans from such services as Twitter, Facebook and SoundCloud.

The result is an easy way for musicians to quickly and very affordably create a mobile presence.

LyricFind CEO Darryl Ballantyne On Geographic & Digital Expansion

LyricFind recently announced a partnership with The Echo Nest to bring lyrics to the Rosetta Stone Platform and also announced global licensing agreements with all four major music publishers. I spoke with CEO Darryl Ballantyne who filled me in on the bigger picture and updated me on such earlier initiatives as Lyrics For Free. In the process I developed a picture of a company that might be described as making chess moves but may actually be engaged in a territorial game of Go.

The Week In Music Apps: YouTube MP3s, Local Music & Sexy Sax Man

By Wren Leader and Connor McKnight of Evolver.fm.

We have some ground to make up in this latest installment, which is really more like “the past three weeks in music apps” this time around. Thankfully, that leaves us plenty of new apps worthy of mention on the Apple iOS, Google Android, web platforms, as well as the usual roundup of recent full-length app reviews.

EchoNest Adds LyricFind To App Platform

The Echo Nest has partnered up with LyricFind to provide app developers an easy way to add legally-licensed song lyrics.  LyricFind's lyrics for 2 million tracks are now part of The Echo Nest's Rosetta Stone platform wich helps technologies from a variety of music services work together smoothly.

EMI's Neil Tinegate Details OpenEMI's Support for Indie Developers

I recently spoke with Neil Tinegate, EMI Music VP of Digital Projects about OpenEMI. OpenEMI is one of the best examples I've seen of a well-established corporate entity finding a direct connection to the innovative energy of startups. Though OpenEMI is available to anyone with the ability to realize a great idea, it is particularly well-designed for small shops, the two guys in a garage model for music tech entrepreneurship.

Clyde's Top Picks From SF Music Hack Day 2012

Though the Grammys may soak up much of the mainstream media attention that might otherwise go to outstanding apps from SF Music Hack Day 2012, the 60+ hacks announced include numerous examples with industry buzz potential as well as apps that could attract mainstream attention. Though Music Hack Days are softsell environments, by having a presence one can boost industry buzz and by allying a timely theme with pleasing design one can cross over via mainstream media.

Industry Buzz Potential: Prizes, Sponsorships & Infrastructure

TasteMakerX Raises $1.8 Million For "Fantasy Sports For Music Lovers" App

TasteMakerX has raised $1.8 Million from an A list group of investors for a mobile app mobile app that enables fans to discover artists, trends and inspiration; compete against other tastemakers; and share experiences through geo-tagging, commentary and photo sharing." The app is expected to launch at SXSW.

First Apple iTune's Match Payments Arriving, TuneCore Gets $10,000

Tunecore has just gotten its first payment for $10,000 from Apple's iTune's Match, and CEO Jeff Price believes that's a hopeful sign. "Seeing an additional $10,000+ appear out of the thin air for TuneCore Artists by people just listening to songs they already own is amazing!"  Now, $10,000 for all the acts that TunecCore distributes isn't much money, but it is a start.

Audio Tags: Why Lady Gaga Would Create Sounds Only Your Smartphone Can Hear

Guest post by Eliot Van Buskirk of Evolver.fm.

Audio tags are looking more and more like the new QR code — not only are they way less ugly than those jagged black-on-white squares, but you don't need to take a picture of anything in order for them to work. (See also: Shazam and the Super Bowl.)

Concert Tracking App Bandsintown Used By 50,000 Bands, 3 Million Fans

Live concert tracking app Bandsintown,says it now has 50,000+ artists using the platform to manage & promote tour dates to a fanbase of 3 million active monthly users. Bandsintown also powers tour information on partner applications including BandPage, BandRx, eMusic, Fanbridge, OneSheet, ReverbNation, Shazam, Soundhound, and Tracks.by.

Pixsound: Turning Photos Into Musical Instruments, It's Much Better Than You Think

Guest post by Eliot Van Buskirk of Evolver.fm.

Music iOS App Pixound takes an intriguing approach: letting you play any photo as if it were a musical instrument. That was enough to get our attention, and when we first started playing around with the Pixound (iOS $1), we thought it was a neat gimmick, but probably not worth a buck. Then we kept playing, delving deeper into the app’s features...

Are You Watching The Superbowl? Have Your Smartphone & Shazam App Ready!

Guest post by Eliot Van Buskirk of Evolver.fm.

Shazam, the fourth-most-popular iOS app of all time, plans to let Superbowl viewers tag the audio coming out of their television sets on Sunday. Tagging audio essentially provides links to online content through your smartphone's microphone, the same way that QR codes can link to stuff through your smartphone's camera, except it's arguably much easier, because you just press a button instead of taking a picture of something.

< Shazam tagging Super Bowl Content

Musicmetric: Co-Founder Talks Pro Edition, P2P Data Tour Planning App

Musicmetric is a web analytics platform that recently launched a Pro edition in Beta. It offers an impressive range of stats on everything from social media activity to mentions in articles on websites. One of the most noted features in recent media coverage is their tracking of file sharing activity. Access to such data also powered a midem Hack Day app called TourrentPlans that helps musicians plan tours based on the location of their filesharing fanbase.

Why Fans Buy Vinyl & The Apps That Guide Them

Guest post by Andy Cush of Evolver.fm.

As someone who spends lots of time thinking about the future of music as an app phenomenon, it might surprise you that I do a lot of my listening on vinyl records. I'm not alone – reports abound of vinyl's surging sales numbers over the past five or so years.

Artist Growth Launches Musician Career Management Platform With Mobile Tools

(UPDATED) Artist Growth, a sophisticated set of cloud-based artist management tools that also utilizes specialized apps for mobile devices, has officially launched. Created by Nashville based musicians turned entrepreneurs Matt Urmy and Jonathan Sexton, Artist Growth's proprietary technology integrates finances, calendars, inventory, contacts, social media and mentoring resources within a single cloud-interface.

Concert Locator ConcertCrowd Adds Streaming Audio

Social and location-based live concert locator, ConcertCrowd, has added the ability for users to stream audio from artists coming to town through an exclusive partnership with Rdio. As Hypebot reported previously, ConcertCrowd is a Facebook application that connects with a user’s Facebook page to help discover upcoming shows of their favorite artists (artists they currently “like”), as well as provides recommendations based on how many of a user’s friends like a particular artist.

Mobile Backstage Fan Clubs Expand To Web

Mobile Backstage, which is a fan club service that launched with native mobile app options and then added a Facebook app over the summer, is now adding an open web version that can be posted on websites and blogs. For some this will seem like a step back but it can also be seen as a way of being available to one's fans wherever they choose to interact.

2011 TechCrunch Crunchies Finalists Include Spotify CEO Ek & Mulligan's Onesheet

The 2011 Crunchies, the annual tech awards show created by TechCrunch, takes place January 31st in San Francisco. Voting has begun to choose the winners from the list of finalists and you are encouraged to vote. Though there are no outright music or entertainment categories, music tech companies made a strong showing across categories. In addition, a number of prominent companies and products that are important to the music industry are up for awards.

Moontoast Gets $6 Million For Social Commerce Platform & Analytics

Musician, celebrity and brand social commerce platform Moontoast has secured $6 million in new funding in a round was led by Nashville venture capital firm The Martin Companies.  Other current investors are also participating in the round. News that the the direct to fan platform was seeking additional funding leaked in December.