MTV Artists Debuts First Mobile App, Tell Us What You Think
Today MTV Artists launches a new app to leverage all that info and content they've been gathering on their site. If it takes off that will certainly be enticement for more artist involvement. I don't find the app that compelling but I'm not good with apps so maybe you'll have a different response. However I'm also wondering why I don't hear more about MTV Artists outside of their own publicity. Hypebot readers, any thoughts on the state of MTV Artists? Musicians, in particular, are you finding the site of use?
MTV Artists makes a lot of sense. It gives a major media corporation a way to leverage their considerable assets and relationships to create an artist-friendly site that could connect with a lot of fans.
MTV Artists has continued to add useful features for artists with help from Topspin. They're also offering promo opps and artist opportunities.
MTV Artists Mobile App
The new MTV Artists iOS app is now available for download.
The app is free. It includes a song id feature, which is a nice touch, and a lyrics search. You've got artists and pictures and videos. Basically the MTV Artists site brought to mobile.
Announced features include:
- Song Identification
- Lyrics Search
- Artist Search
- Artist Info At-a-Glance
- Retro Archive Footage
- Exclusive Content from Your Favorite Artists and MTV
- Seamlessly Follow Artists Social Pages From One Place
- Access to buy songs and tickets
My Brief Experience of the App
I did a lyrics search for "wood grain wheel." The first result was the Slim Thug album and other results were from different artists. Clicking on that took me to the Slim Thug page but I was hoping for the song cause I already know how to find Slim Thug by typing in his name.
And since the video is free on YouTube I kind of thought I'd find it here as I would with many free apps that allow you to access music from YouTube, SoundCloud, etc. But I just found a handful of Slim Thug videos that I didn't want to see and other content and social links.
I did see more interesting looking options for artists that are hot at the moment. But I could never find the combined social stream implied by today's announcement:
"Seamlessly Follow Artists Social Pages From One Place: Getting dizzy from jumping back and forth between Facebook and Twitter and still feel like you’re missing out on updates from your favorite artist? MTV Artists streamlines artist’s social feed into one place to keep you in the loop and not out in the cold."
I played around a bit. A couple of times I got dropped into what felt like a no-man's land. The first time seemed like a glitch. The second time it was a gigantic Pepsi ad crunched onto my iPod Touch screen that I thought was another glitch.
What's Your Take On MTV Artists?
But I'm not good with mobile apps. So check it out and let me know in the comments. Am I missing the value or am I so glazed at seeing all these features in various configurations over and over again for the last year or two that I just don't get the newness?
And what about MTV Artists? Musicians say they want things like free publicity and the ability to go D2F on other people's platforms. MTV Artists seems to be trying to provide such things. So what's going on out there?
More:
- MTV Announces "Artist To Watch" Music Discovery Campaign
- MTV, VH1, CMT Debut Free Artist Opportunities Hub
- An Inside Look Into MTV’s Next Big Thing: Artists.MTV
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch/@crowdfundingm) also blogs at Flux Research and Crowdfunding For Musicians. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
A – I guess I should stop asking readers what they think. It seems to always end up with no comments.
B – I guess there aren’t any MTV Artists enthusiasts out there which is a bad sign. Maybe no hate either.
Sadly, in this world, if you’re not being hated, then you’re not being noticed.
I’ve been working with the MTV Artists pages since the day they launched. In theory they should work well. All that traffic that MTV claims comes to their sites on a monthly basis must want something! But, most artists I’ve talked to or worked with in regards to their MTV/CMT/VH1 Artist pages never seem that excited about the potential or the reality. It is often viewed as yet another social profile they need to manage. Most artists tend to prioritize all these services with Facebook and Twitter taking precedence.
Topspin didn’t help matters by electing to not provide a direct link between the Topspin Platform and ArtistLink. The friction to uploading audio tracks….yet again…to ArtistLink was not worth the effort for some. Yet, if an existing Topspin artist could have checked a box in their Topspin Platform account and had the track instantly available for use in ArtistLink, I bet things would have been a bit more active. But the potential and issues with ArtistLink itself is a whole other topic…
I’d love to hear more hard data success stories for MTV Artist Pages. Maybe Hypebot could prompt MTV to share some case studies. There must be some…but, I don’t have any from my direct experience.
I’ll add my thoughts on the app. It seems like a really well made app. But the one feature that dominates for me is the SOUND ID component. It is quick and, so far, damn accurate. What I like about it is pointing it at the radio or my computer and while the song is playing checking up on what the artist has going on.
The Sound ID tech is Gracenote:
http://www.gracenote.com/mtv/
So the best part they bought from somebody else?
Thanks for that.
I know Topspin has been criticized for not being user-friendly. I guess this is another example.
Combine it with general social media account overload and I can see that affecting uptake.