Billboard’s Music App Summit

Just a reminder, the submission deadline for Billboard’s Music App Awards is Friday, August 6th. Finalists will be notified by September 1st, and will be featured in a Billboard article listing the best apps of the year, and have the opportunity to demo their app onstage at The Music App Summit in San Francisco on October 5th, as well as receive free demo space in the exhibit area. Awards will be given in the following categories:

• Best Artist-based App
• Best Music Streaming App
• Best Music Engagement App
• Best Music Creation App
• Best Branded App
• Best Touring App

To submit an app, go here.

Play your Music from Google Docs

Cloud Music, a new iPhone/iPod touch/iPad app released yesterday allows users to play audio files (MP3, MP4 and .WAV) from their Google Docs. For example, you can upload an album from your computer as a folder to your Google docs with a cover image, and you will then see the cover while the album is being played on your iPhone. You can also share your music, and play music shared to you by your friends. It's the latest cloud-based music service I've written about over the past couple of years, and there will be many more to come as there's no doubt this is the music industry's future.


 

5 Rdio Features for Music Enthusiasts

I've been using Rdio a few weeks now thanks to Glenn Peoples, and I'm impressed with their service. Below are 5 features that make Rdio a great experience for music enthusiasts:

1. select and listen to a specific artist, album and/or a specific track
2. create and share custom playlists, subscribe to your friends' playlists, or collaborate on their playlists
3. effortlessly write a review for a song and/or album (this data could be a great resource for artists, labels, managers and the like)
4. great social interface allowing users to easily see what their friends are listening to (vice-versa), as well as other Rdio users, and who is listening to the music you like (creating new opportunities for music discovery)
5. nice visualization of music collections (i'm assuming they'll add more visualizations)

Rdio will likely influence other music service providers to modify their offering with similar features and design, benefiting all music listeners, but there are a few areas where Rdio can improve:

• increase content, especially from unsigned artists with services like CD Baby and Tunecore
• easier queue creation/management for individual songs and albums (e.g. the drop down to add is cumbersome)
• tighter integration of music recommendations based on a user's listening activity; it's a bit separated from the experience at present

MOG Launches Mobile Music App

MOG has just released their mobile music app for the iPhone, iTouch and Android devices. For $9.99 per month, subscribers get access to more than 8 million songs with unlimited listening and all-you-can-eat downloads, as well as MOG’s desktop and online service.

Features include:

• Unlimited downloads: Subscribers can download any song or album directly to their phones and continue to listen to music even when out of cell or WiFi range.
• On-demand streaming: Unlimited listening to any artist, album, or song at any time, with no ads and no limit on the number of consecutive tracks by a single artist
• MOG Radio: Only MOG offers the patent-pending “MOG Mobius” music discovery engine, which enables users to control the mix of similar artists, from true "artist only" radio up to a full mix of similar artists.
• Playlist access between website and mobile: Make playlists on MOG.com and access them on your phone. Favorite tracks that are bookmarked from the web are then integrated into a user’s personal library and appear in favorites on the mobile app.
• High quality audio: Songs can be downloaded at the standard rate of 64 kbps or users can turn on HQ downloads (up to 320 kbps) to save the song as a larger file with higher audio quality. This gives listeners the option of receiving high quality downloads for maximum audio fidelity.
• Multi-tasking: Android users can continue to play music with MOG while using other applications. (MOG will add multi-tasking for iOS 4 users)

MP3tunes Launches Personal Cloud Music Service

MP3tunes launched its personal cloud music service today called, "Buy Anywhere, Listen Everywhere." Essentially, their service makes it possible to buy music from a variety of digital music vendors and play them on a variety of devices. For example, a user can buy a song using their Android and listen to it within minutes on their iPod:


Conversely, songs purchased from iTunes on a PC can be played almost immediately on an Android:



Presently, MP3tunes' Buy Anywhere, Listen Everywhere service works with these digital music stores:

• iTunes
• AmazonMP3
• Napster
• Walmart
• Zune
• 7digital
• Rhapsody
• ShockHound

And their service is compatible with these devices:

• iPhone 4
• iPhone 3GS
• iPhone 3G
• iPod touch
• HTC Aria
• HTC Desire
• HTC Dream
• HTC Hero
• HTC Legend
• HTC Magic
• HTC Tattoo
• HTC Evo 4G
• Google Nexus One
• Motorola Droid
• Motorola Backflip
• Motorola CLIQ
• myTouch 3G Slide
• Droid Incredible
• Logitech Squeezebox
• RCA internet radios
• Reciva internet radios

MP3tunes has also updated their iPhone and Android applications.

10 Invites to Rdio

Have you been wanting to try the new social music service, Rdio? Thanks to Glenn Peoples, I now have an account, and I'm giving away all of my 10 invites to readers of IMT. All you have to do is post a comment requesting an invite by logging in with your Twitter account below, and I will randomly select 10 winners.

Essentially, the invite will give you a free, 3 day preview of Rdio, but after that, you'll have to pay. So while the invite will get you in so you can try Rdio, you'll have to start paying after 3 days (please note, Rdio only works within the US at this time).

Below is a brief feature tour of Rdio from lifehacker:

Sound Around Launches

Sound Around, a startup I wrote about a couple of weeks ago has officially launched this morning. Essentially, Sound Around enables artists, labels and managers to create, update and manage their own custom iPhone applications (see how it works in their product announcement video below).

To kick off their launch today, they will provide 3 months of free service to the first three artists, labels or managers that reply to this post by tweeting their comment via Disqus below - good luck! (UPDATE: only one has been taken as of 9:30am)

Zimly: Free Media Player for your Android

Need a good, free media player for your Android? Then check out Zimly.

Features include:

• playback support for MP3, OGG, ACC (audio), MP4 and 3GP (video) encoded files
• automatic detection of media
• advanced play controls like swipe to seek
• full screen album art
• intuitive, on-the-fly playlist creation and editing
• custom interface
• unified start screen to access your audio and video files
• automatically generated video preview page with screenshots
• widescreen and fullscreen video playback modes

They're also working on several new features, including Last.fm scrobbling, an equalizer and fast scrolling for song lists, album lists, and artist lists.

Sound Around to Launch Custom Mobile Application Service for Artists

Sound Around, a new service for artists, labels and managers to create and update their own custom iPhone applications is about to launch. While they're still in private beta, you can signup to be notified when they release their initial product later this month, which seems similar to MobBase and Mobile Roadie.

Features of Sound Around include: iTunes integration, streaming, bio, tour dates, usage analytics and more. For additional information, check out their FAQ, and this video demo below:

Accept Credit Cards for your Merch via your iPhone or Android

Square is now available for both the iPhone and Android, and it's poised to revolutionize the credit card payments industry, especially for small businesses, and that's a good thing. So what can it do for artists? By creating an account, downloading the app, and connecting the tiny hardware to your mobile phone, you will be able to easily sell your merch from wherever you are, without any need for a computer or wireless connection - all you need is your iPhone or Android. No more sending in transaction slips, or turning away customers because they only have a credit card. It's simple, eloquent and efficient, not surprising coming from one of the co-founders of Twitter - just take a look at some of Square's features:

• accept credit cards on any device with an audio input jack, including your mobile phone
• no merchant account required
• no contracts, monthly fees, or hidden costs
• receipts are sent instantly to your email or mobile phone
• instantly see how much you’ve made for the day, broken out by tips, tax, and payment method
• meets and exceeds all industry standard security practices and compliance requirements
• simple and transparent credit card fees

Here's a quick video about Square; notice how the transaction works at the very beginning of the video:

SoundHound vs. Shazam

Out of curiosity, over the weekend I compared SoundHound and Shazam to see which one is the superior music identification app for the iPhone; below are my results:

Install time:
Shazam was slightly faster

Identification time:
no significant difference

User Interface:
SoundHound seems to offer slightly more features, but Shazam has a clean UI

Identification Test (all songs tested were played over my laptop via Pandora):
Airstream Driver by Gomez
SoundHound - identified the song/version/artist correctly
Shazam - failed first attempt; identified the song/version/artist correctly the second time

Hang 'Em High by The Meters
SoundHound - identified the song/version/artist correctly
Shazam - identified the song/version/artist correctly

Hope She Falls In Love by The Blue Dogs
SoundHound - failed to correctly identify the song/version/artist (tested twice)
Shazam - failed to correctly identify the song/version/artist (tested twice)

Hurricane Party (Live) by James McMurty
SoundHound - identified the song/version/artist correctly
Shazam - identified the song/version/artist correctly

Come Talk To Me by Get Busy Committee
SoundHound - failed first attempt; identified the song/version/artist incorrectly the second time as Come And Talk To Me (Remix) by Jodeci
Shazam - identified the song/version/artist incorrectly (tested twice; each time Come And Talk To Me (Remix) by Jodeci was identified

Artist Information:
Once the song/artist has been correctly identified, Shazam provides useful and readily accessible artist information (e.g. tour dates and Twitter/Facebook profile information), but SoundHound provides features Shazam does not, like a list of the albums the song has been featured on.

Price:
Both offer trial versions where Shazam appears to allow 5 free identifications per month, while SoundHound appears to only allow 5 total. Their paid versions both cost $4.99 and include unlimited music identifications. However, they should both increase the number of identifications provided with their trial versions to 10, as seemingly this would encourage use, which would probably lead to higher purchase rates.

Conclusion:
It's a draw, as both seem to identify music equally, and both have difficulty identifying non-mainstream music (interesting to note that it was the same songs), so it's going to come down to your personal preference.

Guitar and Bass MultiFX for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

The recently released AmpliTube iRig is a guitar/bass multiFX for the iPhone, iPod and iPad. Simply plug the interface into your mobile device, plug in your guitar or bass, plug in your headphones, amp or powered speakers, and you’ll have a great sounding, powerful and inexpensive portable multiFX. Features include:

• scalable up to 10 simultaneous stompboxes, 5 amps, 5 cabinets and 2 mics
• import and play along with songs and backing tracks with real-time effects
• 36 presets that can be saved/recalled on the fly
• tuner and metronome
• 1/4” female mono input jack connector
• 1/8” female stereo output mini-jack connector
• works with line level signals from synthesizers, keyboards and mixers

Interview with My Audio Bio

Curious about My Audio Bio? Below is a brief email interview with the founder, Dan Morris.

What is My Audio Bio?
My Audio Bio is an autobiographical catalogue of your musical history. It gives you a way to connect your life to music, sharing your stories with your friends on Facebook, as well as making new friends by connecting over the stories you post. You can also turn your stories into a soundtrack by assembling playlists for them.

Why would someone use My Audio Bio instead of blogging about or sharing their experiences within their social networks?
My Audio bio is a central place for people to share their personal music stories, a catalog of your life in music powered by Last.FM and Facebook. Also, users on social networks are mostly sharing what they are listening to currently, which is great, but MAB allows users to share how music effected their lives.

It seems My Audio Bio is still in the early stages, what features is My Audio Bio building for future releases?
At present, My Audio Bio users can publish their Audio Bio's to Facebook, and tag friends in their stories. We have entertained the idea of having a Facebook app that allows Artists to publish their "MAB" albums to facebook, but we do not have this in the works today. We are also releasing our iPhone application, playlists publishing with iTunes, and expansion into live concerts on the site. We are also exploring some partnership opportunities that will further the users experience and provide a new direction for our business model.

What is My Audio Bio's business model?
We will offer a light version of our iPhone application, which will be free, but we are also building a paid version that will allow for a much richer experience. Ultimately, the ability to purchase songs along side each story will be in place throughout the site.

Bandsintown is on the Move: Announces Partnerships and Expands Board of Advisers

My friends over at Bandsintown just announced significant API partnerships with EMI, Shazam and ReverbNation, as well as the appointment of Paul Vidich to their board of advisers. Paul is a former EVP with Warner Music and a former director at Ticketmaster UK.

These are key partnerships for Bandsintown, as it will expand their reach considerably. For example, Bandsintown will now deliver tour dates and ticket links to more than 60 million songs tagged each month on Shazam, Shazam Encore and (SHAZAM) RED apps. Additionally, Bandsintown will also provide concert information to over 20 million music fans throughout ReverbNation's network looking to purchase tickets, and a similar arrangement with EMI artists as well. Nice work guys, congrats!

If you haven't had a chance to explore Bandsintown, now's the time, and they have a great iPhone app too. Not to mention, they've made tremendous progress since their launch in 2007, just take a look at some of these stats:

• aggregate ticket information from more than 100 different ticketing companies in 160 countries
• expose concert data to more than 50 million people monthly through their partner network
• over 150,000 upcoming events
• an active developer community with more than 70 developers utilizing their data in various global music sites and applications - here's just a few of them

To read their full press release regarding these partnerships and the appointment of Paul Vidich to their board of advisers, please go here.

Indie Music Tech now Available on the iPhone

Thanks to the good folks at MobBase, Indie Music Tech is now available on your iPhone for free. For those of you that don't know about MobBase, I wrote about them a few months ago, and their mobile development service for the music industry is impressive (disclosure: MobBase gave me a free account/service).

Essentially, MobBase makes it easy for bands, musicians, labels, music bloggers, etc. to inexpensively create, launch and manage their own, custom iPhone and iPod Touch applications for sharing music, news, photos, videos, tweets, merch, tour info and more with their fans, on their mobile devices.

Many thanks to Alan Khalfin and Charles Feinn for making it happen in less than 4 days! Not to mention, it was a breeze setting up - took less than one hour. Go here to download and install Indie Music Tech, and look for enhancements soon.

Artist Creates Latest Release Entirely from iPhone

iMatik, a new release today from DJ and music producer, Freematik was engineered entirely from Tom Freeman's iPhone with apps like Beatmaker, iDrum, Flare and Jasuto. While Tom did sample a few sounds from around his office and some loops he's made in the past, the vast majority of the album was made using sounds built into the iPhone.

With an ever growing list of mobile music tools, like MultiTrack, we're going to see a flood of these kinds of releases from artists this year, some are already coming in from live performances, turning the iPhone into a professional recording device and instrument.

Record, Upload and Share Sound Bites on the Go with Chirbit

Ever been at a music conference and needed an easy way to capture a quick thought about a panel, conversation or event you could share with your friends via your iPhone? With Chirbit, you can, and just in time for SXSW next week.

Simply signup with Chirbit, and use your iPhone's built-in Voice Memo app to record, and you'll be sharing micro-podcasts and soundbites within minutes to your friends on Facebook. You could even provide daily updates from Austin via your Twitter account.

There are some size limitations, but the service appears to be free, at least for now. To learn more about Chirbit, visit with them during their official launch at SXSW during TechKaraoke (3/15/10). In the meantime, here's their official screencast:

Learn to Play Guitar with TouchChords

I just discovered TouchChords, an iPhone app for learning how to play guitar, and it's remarkably useful even if you already know how to play. For example, it's integrated with iTunes so you can learn the songs you want to play by purchasing the song, and TouchChords then displays the chords and lyrics in realtime with the music - goodbye tab books. Below are a couple of demos:

The Jackson 5 Coming Soon to ZOOZBeat

In a few weeks, ZOOZBeat will release The Jackson 5 mobile remix app, allowing users to recreate hits like "ABC," "Dancing Machine" or "I Want You Back" with loops, hooks or adding in their own vocals directly from an iPhone. Users can then upload their remix and share with friends. It's a super cool and fun app that's a bit addicting (I played with it nonstop for an hour this afternoon), so stay tuned to ZOOZBeat for their release announcement.

As mentioned in a previous article, ZOOZBeat builds Gesture-Based Mobile Music apps that allow users to create music through physical interactions with their mobile device, like shaking, tilting and tapping.

Psychology Professor to Examine Relationship Between Music and Emotions Using Moodagent

In what will surely be a fascinating study, Dr. David Echevarria, professor of psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi is planning to use Moodagent to examine the impact of music on emotions. “I’m hoping to use Moodagent as a teaching tool to stimulate conversation, learning and critical thinking in the area of emotions and psychology,” said Echevarria. “As a psychologist, I am fascinated that a mobile application that can discern subtle and elusive emotional qualities in music. There are some individuals with various disorders who find this an extremely challenging – if not impossible – task, and here we have a app that can do it! Moodagent is essentially a form of artificial social intelligence.”

According to Moodagent's press release, "it has long been known that music can either positively or negatively affect a person’s mood, state of happiness or stress level. Many people often turn to their favorite music to help themselves feel better, happier and more relaxed when they are feeling down or stressed, which can in turn affect mood-enhancing neurochemicals. For example, listening to music that normally makes one happy and promotes feelings of relaxation will trigger the brain to release serotonin, a naturally occurring anti-depressant neurotransmitter that boosts feelings of happiness and stimulates the mind and body to enjoy a more relaxed state."

Hopefully Moodagent will forward his findings as I'm sure it will be worth reading. As mentioned briefly on IMT last year, Moodagent lets listeners create playlists based on their mood, or create playlists to change their mood. The Moodagent engine, in part looks at one’s music library to understand the emotional characteristics of his or her music, and chooses the best music for the listener based on their emotions.