Monday
Jul052010
July 5, 2010 12 Must-Have iPhone Apps For The Musician On-The-Go
These days, everyone is “on-the-go” and chances are if you own an iPhone you’ve recognized the fact that you’ve got a lot going on and you don’t have the time to sit in front of your computer trying to get your music to the masses. These apps are specifically for you, the musician that wants to stay connected and enhance your career, even if you’re on the train, in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, or waiting to meet with the executive of a record label. These apps will help you promote your music, stay connected with your fans, and even create music while on the move.
UPDATE YOUR BLOG
1. BlogPress
The video above pretty much speaks for itself. BlogPress is an incredible app that quickly and easily updates your blog right from your iPhone. This app is very straight forward: connect your blog and immediately start posting. Create your blog post including pictures and videos, create tags and categories, and update your blog instantly. Update both your Twitter and Facebook accounts that you’ve added a new post - straight from this app.
Price: $2.99
2. Shozu
ShoZu is another blogging app that offers support for Blogger, WordPress, LiveJournal, TypePad and a bunch more as well as support for Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Picasa, TwitPic and more. The best part about this blogging app is what it can do after you’ve already uploaded your latest post. ShoZu lets you view and reply to comments so you can see how people are responding to your post and become a part of the conversation - all while on the road.
Price: $4.99
3. WordPress
If you use the WordPress platform, this app is going to be your best bet for blogging while on the run. Write your posts, add photos, check spelling and create links, all without having to use any HTML. Moderate, edit, or reply to comments with an intuitive interface that makes bulk moderation of comments a quick process. Lastly, for the artist that’s in a new town every week, you can keep your fans updated on your current location with the Geotag feature. Just tap the icon and you’re done. WordPress locates you on the map and adds your location to the post. NOTE: This feature is not recommended for artists that are trying to escape a crowd of obsessed groupies.
Price: FREE
MUSIC CREATION
4. AmpliTube
A truly dedicated musician on-the-go won’t leave home without their instrument, even when they’re going to the grocery store or the library. Okay, a dedicated musician will bring their instrument just about anywhere and now with Amplitube you won’t need to drag around all your equipment with you. With versions ranging from free to $19.99, AmpliTube contains an entire guitar/bass rig at your fingertips. The fully loaded version contains 5 amps (clean, crunch, lead, metal, bass) with full controls, 11 stompbox effects (delay, fuzz, distortion, overdrive, wah, envelope filter, chorus, flanger, phaser, octave, noise filter), 5 cabinets and 2 microphones (dynamic and condenser) while the free version offers 3 stompboxes, 1 amp+cabinet, and 2 microphones. Try out the free version and if you really like it why not spend the extra $20?
Price: FREE to $19.99
5. Voice memo
Ever had an idea for a song? A tune, a few lyrics, maybe even just the beat? Ever forget that idea and kick yourself later for it? Welcome to the Voice Memo app which actually comes with the iPhone and is a very useful app for the musician on-the-go. There’s not too much more that needs to be said about it - if you’ve ever forgotten a great song idea you know how useful this app can be.
Price: FREE
6. Beatmaker
Beatmaker is the must-have app for producers on-the-go. The 16 multi-touch pads can be used to “load, slice, tune, and trigger sounds from an extensive sample library.” You can also arrange song snippets, loop and add audio effects. One of the coolest aspects is you can record your owns sounds and use them in your compositions. So next time your dog’s incessant barking inspires your latest beat you can actually USE your dog to make the beat.
Price: $9.99
MUSIC VIDEO CREATION
7. ReelDirector
Imagine you’re on tour and you just thought about how cool it would be to document your journey for your next music video. Too bad you’re in the middle of nowhere and you’ve been eating off the dollar menu every day. Chances are you’re not going to be able to afford a video camera, if you can even find one. With ReelDirector you can edit videos (must have video recording ability) right on your iPhone. The video shows just how easily it is to assemble clips, add transitions, and import your music to use as the soundtrack.
Price: $3.99
NOTE: IF you’re lucky enough to own an iPhone 4 you can shoot and edit HD video right from your phone with iMovie. And on another note, if you own an iPhone 4 I’m extremely jealous.
SOCIAL NETWORKING
8. Duo
Duo is a great app for quickly and easily updating both your Twitter and Facebook statuses at the same time. When you want to update your fan base with what you’re doing, insider info, or, well, just about anything this is the easiest way to sync both accounts.
Price: FREE
9. Tweetdeck
If you’re looking for a little more from Twitter then just the quick status update then TweetDeck is the app from you. You can add columns for your Twitter Lists, cross post to multiple accounts (including Facebook), reply to tweets and send direct messages, follow topics in real-time, and share photos. This is just a summary of the many features TweetDeck has to offer. If you’re a Twitter fanatic this is your app.
Price: FREE
10. Facebook App
The Facebook app can do, well, pretty much everything that Facebook can do. Not but seriously, the newest upgrade allows you to watch Facebook videos to add onto the list of things it already could do. Use this app to talk to your fans with Facebook Chat, upload your photos, or look up phone numbers of your friends. If the Facebook app is lacking any features that you’re looking for then give it a few more weeks and chances are there will be an updaed version of the app with everything you could hope for.
Price: FREE
CONNECT YOUR FANS
11. Fanbridge
FanBridge is a simple app that can be used for collecting fan’s information to be added to a mailing list. Next time you’re chatting with some fans after a show, take down there info and update them on your next show, upcoming album releases, or even follow up with a “thank you” for coming to see your show.
Price: $4.99
12. Sound Around
Sound Around Demo from Sound Around on Vimeo.
You’re a musician on-the-go. Who’s to say your fans aren’t also busy people? Let them stay involved with you regardless of where they happen to be. With Sound Around you can create your own iPhone app for your music and let your fans check you out where ever they are. Fans can play your music, look up lyrics, view photos, watch videos, shows and more. Most importantly, it also includes share features so your fans can help spread the word.
While there are plenty of apps available for musicians, these 11 are the most relevant for musicians that are constantly on the move. Have you had experience with any of these apps? Were there any apps that got left off the list and shouldn’t have been? Any feedback is appreciated in the comment section!
Chris is the co-founder of MicControl, a music blogging network based on a music social networking platform. This post originally appeared on the MicControl blog on June 14, 2010. Chris can be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Reader Comments (5)
Rather better than the inbuilt Voice Memo app is McDSP Retro Recorder which has a great sounding leveller algorithm and a groovy cassette tape and library interface. Exporting as WAV takes space and time though...
For musicians on the go, free NTRconnect remote access for the iPhone let's you access your music files or any file on your remote PC in a fast, easy and secure manner. You can get it at the iTunes App store at http://bit.ly/dxScjG or www.ntrconnect.com
I think I am seeing double. there are 2 number 7s. Great post by the way and with Jon Ostrow's permission (and yours, I assume he told you) I will feature this on our blog. Good day!=)
@George and @hwieland - just checked out both apps and they're very cool! Thanks for the input, I'd suggest everyone else checks them out as well.
@Marion haha you are not in fact seeing double (I'm sure my eyes were playing tricks on me while writing this, don't know how it slipped by me!). I'd love to have the post featured on your blog! And feel free to edit the post with just one #7! haha thanks for the correction!
Thanks to Marion for pointing out that the number 7 only exists once :) We now have the 12 Must-Have Apps for the Musician On-the-go!