This week has been another interesting week for independent music artists looking to leverage the use of mobile technology to interact more closely with their fans.
On Wednesday social music network iLike announced they were adding a new mobile application to their artist dashboard application that allows any artist to extend their music promotion to their iPhone.
Leading music blog Hypebot unfortunately incorrectly reported that iLike’s iPhone application was free (and I can see why as I couldn't find a price mentioned in their press release or on their website), but after speaking with iLike’s office, it transpires that unlike the site’s other dashboard applications this one will cost you a $99 setup fee, and if you want to sell your iPhone application you will be charged a 50% fee from all sales.
With all new technology developments, costs are usually high for early adopters, however after going through the process of building my own iLike application it’s a little unfortunate that i couldn't find a mention of the $99 fee anywhere on their site until I got to the submit page.
As all of iLike’s other dashboard features have so far been free and the iPhone app is marketed within the dashboard without a price it’s easy to understand why their users would assume that it’s also free.
ILike's Chief Technology Officer Nat Brown confirmed to MyMusicSuccess.Com that iLike hadn’t made the charges clear on their site.
“I had read the Hypebot article but missed that title saying "free iPhone app". That is more than a little bit confusing, you're right. I hear you about the $99 cost being at the end being irritating, I'm going to work on making that more clear.
The cost is in a few other places as well, but you are right that it's not as clear as it should be in this area and we do want to be up-front about it.
Since we feel that as a promotional opportunity versus other things bands do for $99 -- making + posting posters for shows, filling up their van to drive to gigs :) etc -- this is really a great deal since we build and will maintain the application and keep it running smoothly when they post photos, videos, blog-posts, concert information, etc.”
Despite this confusion, the application appears to offer a good feature set, smoothly integrating the band info, photos, songs gigs and videos you publish on iLike into a one stop application for Apple mobile equipped fans. I did experience difficulties using the build process though as iLike's site seemed painfully slow on 3 different computers and browsers. Firefox seemed to be the most compatible browser with the site.
On Wednesday social music network iLike announced they were adding a new mobile application to their artist dashboard application that allows any artist to extend their music promotion to their iPhone.
Leading music blog Hypebot unfortunately incorrectly reported that iLike’s iPhone application was free (and I can see why as I couldn't find a price mentioned in their press release or on their website), but after speaking with iLike’s office, it transpires that unlike the site’s other dashboard applications this one will cost you a $99 setup fee, and if you want to sell your iPhone application you will be charged a 50% fee from all sales.
With all new technology developments, costs are usually high for early adopters, however after going through the process of building my own iLike application it’s a little unfortunate that i couldn't find a mention of the $99 fee anywhere on their site until I got to the submit page.
As all of iLike’s other dashboard features have so far been free and the iPhone app is marketed within the dashboard without a price it’s easy to understand why their users would assume that it’s also free.
ILike's Chief Technology Officer Nat Brown confirmed to MyMusicSuccess.Com that iLike hadn’t made the charges clear on their site.
“I had read the Hypebot article but missed that title saying "free iPhone app". That is more than a little bit confusing, you're right. I hear you about the $99 cost being at the end being irritating, I'm going to work on making that more clear.
The cost is in a few other places as well, but you are right that it's not as clear as it should be in this area and we do want to be up-front about it.
Since we feel that as a promotional opportunity versus other things bands do for $99 -- making + posting posters for shows, filling up their van to drive to gigs :) etc -- this is really a great deal since we build and will maintain the application and keep it running smoothly when they post photos, videos, blog-posts, concert information, etc.”
Despite this confusion, the application appears to offer a good feature set, smoothly integrating the band info, photos, songs gigs and videos you publish on iLike into a one stop application for Apple mobile equipped fans. I did experience difficulties using the build process though as iLike's site seemed painfully slow on 3 different computers and browsers. Firefox seemed to be the most compatible browser with the site.
I really hope that iLike can sort out their teething troubles as our readers well know MyMusicsuccess is always looking to champion innovation in the independent music promotion market and iLike’s offering could be another useful addition to the indie artist’s toolset.
Word on the street is that there could also be an similar iPhone app coming from new online music startup Jamwee.com but no details have been announced officially yet.
Speaking of innovation, there’s another useful way of utilising the power of the mobile device being developed over at GigDoggy.Com.
GigDoggy’s ‘Mobile Fanteraction’ service promises to give fans attending your concerts the lowdown on your band whilst they are at the bar, and communicate things like a gig set list, artist bio to an iPhone, Blackberry or any other 3G enabled device.
Fans can visit a custom GigDoggy mobile URL whilst at the gig which is a great way to leave a footprint on their mobile device before they drink too much to remember your website address. Fan’s will be able to find out more about you again long after the beer soaked flyer has been thrown away and the hangover remedies have worn off.GigDoggy is in its very early stages at the moment, and appears to be focusing whole heartedly on content for mobile use, rather than being a one size fits all website which seems like a good strategy. Keep an eye out for this one, and head on over to http://www.gigdoggy.com/ for more information about the service
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