Analysis

iPhone Apps:
kicking mobile music
into touch
Back in 2001 Apple launched iPod + iTunes. For better or for worse it
revolutionised how we consumed, purchased and enjoyed music. A whole
new ecosystem built up around the devices. Hardware manufacturers
started building accessories specifically for the iPod and companies rushed
to integrate iPod connections into their existing devices. For a cautious
music industry the iTunes music store promised hope of a new digital
market for music sales that had failed to ignite previously. Love it or hate
Dave Haynes
UK operations & business
it, the iPod was a game changer.
development, SoundCloud
and Co-founder, Fast forward to 2007 and Apple have done it again speakers, microphone, networking, GPS and even
OpenMusicMedia
with the iPhone and its little sister the iPod Touch. accelerometer data.”
On 11th July, 2008, iTunes itself also moved beyond All these different elements have created a rich
just music and video with the subsequent arrival of platform that not only allows developers to make
The App Store, allowing users to buy and download amazing music-based applications but also takes them
new software from third party developers to their onto every street and into the mainstream.
iPhones. In fact over 500M apps have now been
downloaded, equating to around 2.1M per day, with Moving beyond the iTunes library
more than 15,000 apps available. Many of these are Streaming music apps like Last.fm and Pandora have
music apps. Although the changes are subtler and the also proved extremely popular, allowing listeners to
implications for the music industry and consumers are move beyond their iTunes Music library and tap into
different, Apple has instigated another paradigm shift an almost unlimited selection of music, streaming
for the way we consume and interact with music. directly from the Internet.
“It’s always been our argument that music
New applications for music consumption will move towards access rather than
There are now literally thousands of music-based ownership,” states Last.fm’s Christian Ward, “the
applications for the iPhone that take the mobile device iPhone is the key device at the moment, certainly in
way beyond the traditional playback functions of the terms of streaming music on the go. For us it’s part of
iPod and their users’ digital music collections. One a wider strategy of making Last.fm available wherever
such application pushing the boundaries is RjDj, a you need it to be, whether that’s on the go, in the car,
completely novel app that combines all the different at home, wherever”.
functionalities of the iPhone and somehow creates a With over 13M iPhones and many more iPod
whole new musical genre. Users download different Touch’s sold to date it could be argued that it will
‘scenes’ that take sensory inputs to generate and be Apple, not streaming services like Napster or
control the music you are listening to. Despite its Rhapsody, that will truly bring cloud-based music
mind-bending effects, the app quickly found success consumption into the mainstream.
with iPhone users and was downloaded over 50,000 Last.fm themselves have further plans for tapping
times in just its first 10 days on the iTunes App Store. into the potential of the iPhone. “Some of things that
Not bad for what is essentially a music album with no we really want to investigate and experiment with
traditional artists. in the future are the events and geolocation stuff,”
Michael Breidenbrucker, RjDj’s founder, is excited Christian explains, “It would be ideal to have a feature
about the future, “the iPhone is the new Walkman where you’d be walking past venues in London and
but it now has so many things that Walkmans your iPhone could tell you that one of your favourite
simply didn’t have before. It’s essentially a mobile bands was playing there in a couple of hours”.
computing device with a CPU, networking, wi-fi, >> Continued on page 22

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 Beatmaker
Beatmaker brings serious music creation to the
iPhone. Priced at £11.99 it is one of the App
Store’s more expensive applications but it packs
a mean punch and has been installed by over
50,000 users. Beatmaker allows you to download
different sounds, beats and instruments or record
your own samples. The user can then trigger
these samples, add effects and sequence them conventional tools, but is a great companion for
into a fully-fledged track. This powerful, portable when creativity strikes. The application really
solution allows producers to make beats on the pushes the limits of what the iPhone can do
go and then export them when they get home to and has already gained traction among amateur
the studio. It’s probably not a substitute for more enthusiasts and professionals alike.

Last.fm
Last.fm launched its official application for the
iPhone and iPod Touch in July 2008 and has spent
many weeks at the top of the music category
charts in the App Store alongside apps such as
Shazam and Pandora. The app takes the Last.fm RjDJ
experience away from your PC to wherever you
need it, whether that’s on the go, in the car or RJDJ stands for ‘Reality Jockey, as much as Disc
your home’s speaker dock. Now on version 2 and Jockey’. It is an interactive music app that uses
with future iterations coming soon the application sensory inputs to generate and control the
allows you to stream music, perform the familiar music you are listening to, creating a new music
Last.fm contextual items (love, ban, skip, tag) as genre that is best described as ‘reactive music’.
well as scrobble.You can even check current Users can download different ‘scenes’ that
events for now playing artists and go directly to react in different ways. Some playback audio
a Google map for the event location. The only based on the audio inputs coming through the
drawback is not being able to use the app in the iPhone’s speakers and others manipulate that
background whilst using other functions of your audio based on accelerometer data (eg. how you
iPhone. move the iPhone device). Founded by Michael
Breidenbrucker, one of the original Last.fm
co-founders, RJDJ was an early success on the
iTunes app store with just 50,000 downloads in
10 days, a figure which has risen to 150,000 in
recent months. Popular scenes include ‘Echolon’
which takes sound input and pitches and shifts
it in different ways and ‘Amenshake’ which uses
the accelerometer to play twist and playback the
infamous ‘Amen’ drum break.

FEBRUARY 2009 #87 • 21

 Tap Tap Revenge
Tap Tap Revenge was the first app to unleash
music gaming onto the iPhone turning the device
into a fully-fledged finger-tapping Guitar Hero-like
frenzy. Starting life as Tap Tap Revolution it was
originally only available on jailbroken phones. Six
months later and the game is reportedly the third
most popular app on iTunes (behind Facebook
and Pandora) with over 5M unique installs. During
that time it has launched various different themed
premium apps with licensed content from Nine
Inch Nails and Weezer as well as the recent Tap
Tap Dance that includes material from dance acts
such as The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk and
Basement Jaxx. The games take full advantage of
the iPhone’s capabilities, combining multitouch,
the accelerometer, and allowing users to play
online or with other users within range.

>>
More interaction with music
But it’s not just the way that we discover,
organise and playback music that the iPhone
is changing. It’s opening up new ways of
interacting with music as well. The recent
rise of music-based gaming really comes into
its own on a mobile device that users also
see as a music device. Tap Tap Revenge, a
Guitar Hero-like game, has taken the App
Store by storm and has now been installed by
over 5M people worldwide.
Tapulous COO, Robert Andrews points
out that, “As a game it’s starting to be more
along the lines of an interactive music video
rather than balls coming down on a rail that
you have to tap to.” He adds, “It’s important
to keep pushing the envelope because people
really do want to interact with the music
they don’t just want to listen to it.”
These games have also created new
revenue streams for labels, not just through
licensed premium apps, such as the Nine Inch
Nails and Weezer editions of Tap Tap, but
also through the music discovery that takes
place via Tap Tap Revenge. Players receive
a new track to play every Thursday and
Tapulous claim weekly downloads of between
150,000 and 300,000 for popular artists such
as Katy Perry, Weezer and Offspring.
Labels have reacted to successes like this
by creating their own iPhone apps. Artists
like Pink and Snow Patrol have both released
interactive album apps through iTunes. This
could just be the tip of the iceberg.
iPhone as a music creation tool
Another category of music application that
has been hugely successful is music creation.
Not content with just listening to music
created by others, iPhone users are busy
downloading and playing all manner of
virtual instruments. From the Zelda-like
tones of Smule’s ‘Ocarina’ that is played
by blowing on the iPhone like a flute and
pressing keys on its touch screen, to the
numerous different virtual guitars, pianos and
synthesizers that all compete for five minutes
of your attention. Whilst some of these may
be no more than gimmicks, fully-fledged
music sequencing software such as Intua’s
‘Beatmaker’ highlight the true potential of
the iPhone as a serious music creation tool
for the masses.
Beatmaker’s Colin Laplace certainly
believes so. “Part of the success of
BeatMaker is the combination of ease
of use and entertainment, which allows
new-timers to create music while getting
quality results that cannot be achieved with
more modest applications.” He goes on
to add “As for music creation, the iPhone
opens new ways to think about how, when
and where music can be produced. We do
not see the platform as a substitute for more
conventional tools, but as a great musician
companion when creativity strikes.”
An exciting future ahead
So it looks set to be an exciting future for
music on the iPhone. Apple is creating new
opportunities for the music industry and
for developers with novel ideas. With sales
of recorded music on the decline these are
opportunities that need to be identified and
embraced.
“There are some pretty powerful forces
at play here,” concludes Tapulous’ Robert
Andrews. “The intersection of music and
mobile is very hot still. Particularly on the
iPhone because you have to remember that
the route to the iPhone is the iPod, a music
listening device. It’s a very natural extension
of the device and I feel pretty confident that
that’s going to grow strongly over the next
12 months.”
Apple has changed the game, again

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