Archive for April, 2010
Mobile Roadie App Links – Now Shorter and Prettier!
posted by Michael ArcandMost of our clients are already aware of the Mobile Roadie App directory, which helps to showcase your apps and links to the app store right from your app page here on Mobile Roadie. However, what you may not know is that Mobile Roadie also has an automatic URL shortening service that we’ve implemented for all of our clients as well. You’re probably familiar with other URL shortening services like Tiny URL or Bit.ly, but those are hard to remember and have to be manually generated each time. With the Mobile Roadie URL shortener, we take care of all of the work for you, all you have to do is use it! Here’s how it works…
The service simply takes the lower-case name of your app and add it to http://road.ie/ … like this:
Madonna’s app can be found at http://road.ie/madonna
The Taylor Swift app can be found at http://road.ie/taylor-swift (note the hypen between the two words in the app name)
So, your app can be found using this shortened URL: http://road.ie/your-app
You can use these shortened URLs in all of your correspondence, since it is so easy to remember! They are perfect for Twitter, Facebook, e-mail and even print marketing, encouraging your contacts to download your mobile app. We’re also updating your fan wall widget and all viral messages to use this new format. It’s a win-win situation that we’ve designed to help maximize our customers’ use of their mobile apps. So go for it, check it out, and pass on YOUR new app URL.
Upcoming Events For May
posted by Michael ArcandMobile Roadie’s recent expansion into European operations was a natural progression for us. Why? Because we literally have customers all over the world. That’s one reason we pushed to have dynamic language support with the release of Mobile Roadie 2.2. Going forward, we will continue to work to help all of our customers world-wide connect and engage with their audience. The potential of mobile applications has never been better, and with our multi-platform capabilities under one CMS, it doesn’t get any better than this.
This next month is going to be a whirlwind of activity for us, with many conferences and summits scheduled. If you are in the area, we would invite you to check out the information on the website linked to each company and if you can, come out and see us! We would be more than happy to meet any of our customers and we’re always glad to get feedback from the field. Here’s where you can find us in the month of May:
May 5th: Digital Hollywood (Los Angeles)
Our CEO, Michael Schneider, will be speaking on a panel entitled “Music Power Shift: iPhone & iPad and other App Platforms – Empowering the Artist, Label, Technologies & Management.” The panel takes place from 10:45 a.m. – noon. A live feed of the panel will be available here.
May 11-12th: Next Conference 2010 (Berlin)
Michael Schneider, will be speaking at this conference on the “App Economy” panel at 9:00 a.m. on May 12th. We are also producing the official Android app for the event, which should be released soon.
May 12: Mobile Meets Entertainment Summit (San Francisco)
Brock Batten, our Creative Director, will be speaking at the summit at 10:00 a.m. on the “Music & Beyond” panel. Discussion will center around how music is shared, what keeps users engaged, and revenue opportunities for artists, distributors and content owners. We are also a sponsor for the event and producing the official iPhone and Android event apps.
May 12th: Smash Summit (San Francisco)
We are sponsoring the summit and providing an on-site demo table where you can see our product first-hand. We’ll also be giving a five-minute presentation on Mobile Roadie.
May 13-16th: DC10 (DC)
Michael Schneider will be speaking on the panel entitled “App Explosion” as well as attending the event. Mobile Roadie is producing the official iPhone and Android apps for the event.
May 14-17th: National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM 2010) (Chicago)
Michael Schneider will be attending this convention as well as speaking on the panel called “A Meeting of the Minds: The Music and Mobile Apps Development Process Considered.” The panel takes place on Monday, May 17th, from 2:30-3:30 p.m.
May 20th: Mediabistro Circus (New York City)
Nicole Jordan, who runs our marketing and communications efforts, will be speaking at this event on the panel, “How We Manage Social Media.” The panel takes place from 10:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. and will discuss the opportunities and challenges that social media presents for marketers.
May 26-28th: Music Matters 2010 (Hong Kong)
Michael Schneider will be speaking on a panel at 11:00 a.m. on May 28th, discussing mobile apps and other new technology in the music industry. He will also be presenting and demoing the official app t0 the conference delegates on the first day of the conference.
Apps For Everyone… With Quality Content and An Audience
posted by Michael Schneider (Mobile Roadie CEO)Our catch phrase at Mobile Roadie has long been “apps for everyone” and our mission has always been to democratize the process of getting an app. No longer do you need to pay $10,000+ for a high quality app, or wait months for development.
We’ve been noticing, however, examples lately that don’t meet minimum quality guidelines for content and audience, and I wanted to take a minute and explain our threshold.
Quality content
This is the biggest one… make sure you have good content. What defines good content? You know it when you see it. Videos, music, news, photos, etc. that your users will actually care about. Don’t put in blurry photos, videos that don’t play on mobile, or single sentence news releases. Your content is the main reason people will come to your app – so make sure it rocks.
Quantity of content
In addition to providing the good stuff (quality content), you need to put in enough content in each section you choose to use that the user feels like it’s a complete experience. Don’t just add one video to your video section and say you’re done. Either flush out an area of the app, or remove it and add it later (with our fully dynamic tab system, you can add/remove sections at any time without resubmitting to Apple).
Audience
So you’ve got great quality and quantity content. You also need to have a solid audience. By “solid” I mean a) an audience beyond just you and your family (for example), and b) an audience that warrants the app being available for public consumption. If you need a private app for your organization, Apple has special certificates you can use for private distribution. If you need an app for only a few people, we can give you an “ad hoc” distribution.
Our process
Before sending your app to Apple, we quality check it internally. This includes checking both the quality and quantity of content, in addition to the functionality. We reject apps that don’t meet our minimum standards, because Apple is likely to do the same. If you get rejected, don’t worry – we’ll give you suggestions on what you need to change in order pass QA and be submitted to Apple.
The bottom line
We have one big goal at Mobile Roadie – to empower you with the tools to create beautiful, highly functional, high quality apps yourself. And we’re going to be releasing even more customization options in the near future. Get serious about your app, use our customization tools, and create something that will blow people away. Go for it!
MIPTV Panel on Mobile Engagement 2.0
posted by Michael Arcand
During a recent trip to Cannes, France, Mobile Roadie CEO Michael Schneider made an announcement about our expansion into the European mobile apps market. However, this wasn’t the only reason he went to the MIPTV conference. He also was invited to sit on the MIPTV Panel on Mobile Engagement 2.0.
The panel was moderated by Jason DaPonte, Managing Editor for BBC Mobile (UK), whose first question out of the box was “How would you summarize what’s different about engaging people on mobile, compared to engaging people on the web, TV, or other media?” Michael was the first in line to answer the question, pointing to the higher level of engagement than the desktop, because it is mobile.
Other panelists included Claire Boonstra, Co-founder of Layar DV (Netherlands); Rudy de Waele, Chief Networking Officer from DotOpen (Spain); and Kurt Sillen, VP and Head of Customer Business Development from Ericsson (Sweeden). The panelists were also asked about the commercial opportunities provided by the mobile web. I have to admit that I was intrigued by the theory posited by Kurt Sillen, that the mobile app is dead. By the end of the video he agreed it really isn’t dead, but his reason for throwing out that position was to challenge the panel not to get too connected or tied in to one technology alone.
I may be biased, but I think that Michael made the best defense in terms of the future of the mobile app:
“Until the mobile web becomes as engaging and as pretty, and frankly, as sexy as an app, it’s not going to provide the same value to the user. One of the reasons the iPhone is as successful as it is, is because of the apps.”
You can watch the entire eight minute video at the MIPTV website here.
(Note: The Mobile Engagement Panel is the second video on the right. )
Case Study: Big Ears Festival App
posted by Michael Arcand
Our next case study is about the Big Ears app, for the festival which took place earlier this year. As we noted in an earlier blog post, we’re constantly expanding our market to include not just individual artists, but also conferences and events as well. I had a chance to catch up via telephone on Friday with Jeff Cuellar, Director of Marketing and Business Development at AC Entertainment, the company which is also behind the Bonnaroo festival. Here’s what he had to say about the music industry getting into the mobile app arena, why it’s important, why he chose Mobile Roadie for his app CMS and the results.
First I had to find out more about the Big Ears Festival – what it’s all about. Jeff explained to me that the festival was meant to be more of a niche mini-festival designed to take place in smaller cities, like Knoxville, Tennessee, as an example. The objective is to provide an indoor / outdoor venue, while providing a world-class experience that you might not otherwise get in the small town environment. The key to the success of such a venture, according to Jeff, is collaboration with the artists.
I asked about music festivals in general and what element mobile apps bring to such events. Jeff felt, like many other professionals in the music industry, that mobile apps initially provided an event guide, simply giving users up to date line-up and schedules, along with other event info. However, as technology has gotten better, he notes that more options have come along for users to share their experience with each other, which has really transformed the mobile app experience.
Asked what excites him most, as a marketing professional, about the Big Ears app, he pointed to the ability to push information directly through mobile devices to the consumer. His point was that people are buying smart phones in record numbers, penetration the market in unprecedented ways. And these people are begging to be communicated with on this new medium. Mobile apps are less invasive than other forms of electronic marketing, because they allow the user to engage with the company when they want to, rather than the other way around.
During the festival Big Ears used push notification to alert users when and where things were taking place, live. In addition, they included an audio mini event guide on the app, giving users an overview of the selected event. Going forward AC Entertainment and the Big Ears festival want to make their app more of an extension of their website, providing additional year-round content to their users.
So why pick Mobile Roadie? This is always one of my favorite questions to ask, because it really helps bring out our best points from our client’s perspective, which is the one that really counts. Jeff said that going into their second year, their budgets were tight. They looked around and really couldn’t afford to go with a customized app running into the $10s of thousands. After having a conversation with CEO Michael Schneider, they decided to give it a go. One of the main selling points for AC Entertainment was the ability for them to customize the app themselves using the CMS. Additionally he was impressed with the time frame, as the app was put together within a few short weeks before the festival. Given such a short notice, they promoted the app at the festival check-in point as well as online, with a response that was very encouraging.
As a final comment, I asked Jeff what he would say to anyone else who might be considering a mobile app. Here’s what he had to say:
“If you’re not doing an app right now, you’re behind. It’s like being on dialup Internet. If you’re not pushing it, you’re missing the boat. Mobile Roadie offers an inexpensive way to get in the game and provide a very strong application because Mobile Roadie is constantly updating their back-end. You don’t have to worry about coming up with a new app every year, you can take advantage of their product and let them stay on top of the changes.”
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! Thanks for the interview, Jeff, and we wish you and Big Ears continued success with your mobile apps.
Announcing the MoRo API
posted by Michael Arcand
We’re pleased to announce that the Mobile Roadie API is now available for developers and online content producers. We feel that this tool will open up a whole new level of opportunities for those who take advantage of what our API has to offer.
Push & Pull From Anywhere
If you are currently using a CMS to update your site or blog, you can now push content through to your mobile app and pull content from it as well, without going through the CMS. This means less data entry, less time consumption and less overall hassle.
We Play Nice
Our API language is agnostic, which means you can pull data from your App in a variety of formats including XML, JSON, native PHP arrays, CSV as well as HTML. So what does this mean for you?
Get Creative!
This totally allows you to feed your App’s content into a custom widget on your band’s MySpace page, or that module on your blog, business site, or anywhere else you want it to be. With our open API and friendly formatting, we level the playing field for you and the sky is the limit.
Check out the documentation and get more details in our MoRo API Wiki.
Presenting the Cyber-Dating Expert App
posted by Michael Arcand
We’re pleased to present one of the latest apps to join the Mobile Roadie family, the CyberDating Expert ®, currently available for the Android platform, with the iPhone version coming very soon. The app features cyber-dating expert Julie Spira, presenting users with the opportunity to share their stories, listen to her live streaming Ask the Cyber-Dating Expert Radio Show and even get the chance to read sample chapters from her book, “The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online.”
Bestselling author and dating advice columnist Julie Spira is known online as the Cyber-Dating Expert because she was one of the very first adopters of the Internet, creating her first online dating profile in 1994. While working with other authors and developing her own social media presence on sites such as Twitter and Facebook, she decided to venture into the mobile arena and see what a mobile app could do for not only her, but other authors as well. Based on her publisher’s recommendation, she checked out Mobile Roadie.
What she found was a service that she was comfortable with first off because it was local to her. Second, she was impressed with the price, finding other services higher priced or offering less value for the money. Finally, she noticed that such notable performers as Dolly Parton and Madonna had also chosen Mobile Roadie for their apps and she said, “if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me!”
Visit her at Cyberdatingexpert.com.
Case Study: Levi’s Fader Fort
posted by Michael Arcand
A few weeks ago we blogged about several events that were taking place during the SXSW convention in Austin, Texas. Today I had the privilege to speak with Andy Cohn, the Executive Vice-President of Fader Media, Inc., hailing from New York City. As you might have guessed from the name, this is the organization behind Levi’s Fader Fort music event. We had a great discussion about the use of Mobile Roadie’s app and Levi’s Fader Fort experience out in the field.
Levi’s Fader Fort started out nine years ago and has grown bigger each year, culminating with over 40 bands featured at the SXSW event this year. A second event is held each year in the fall, in New York. However, the company was looking for a way to bridge the gap and make the Fort something more than just two singular events – to build out from these tent poles and develop a year-round presence. After looking at their options and deciding to include a website, blog and social media presence, Andy Cohn ran into Michael Schneider and the Mobile Roadie gang at a media event. Intrigued by what they had to offer (including an actual development time frame) and seeing the confidence they presented themselves with, they decided to give them the ball and let them run with it.
So how has this relationship between Levi’s Fader Fort and Mobile Roadie gone so far? According to Cohn, Mobile Roadie is “the most incredible vendor or partner we’ve worked with.” He also said that the Fader Fort app has actually become not just another tool in their social media presence, but is actually a much more integral part of what they are doing today, as a “perfect extension of what the Fort is all about.” The overwhelming positive response from app users on Twitter and Facebook blew the team away and is also reflected in their numbers, with over 3400 downloads of the app to date, between the iPhone and Android platforms.
Finally, I asked Andy what he would say to anyone looking at a mobile app platform and what Mobile Roadie has to offer. Here’s what he had to say:
There is a barrier in entry that is more in people’s perception than reality… people need to realize there are companies like Mobile Roadie that have the ability to make these things come to life. People need to be more open to what an app can do. It’s a great interactive tool, it’s sexy.
It seems that everyone at Levi’s Fader Fort, from the executives all the way down to the end users, are extremely happy about the Mobile Roadie app. If you want to expand your media presence into the mobile arena and are looking for someone who can take the ball and run with it, look no further. Why don’t you take the tour and see what we can do for your business!
(Image Source: Chris Gomez Photography)
Mobile Roadie Expands Operations to Europe
posted by Michael Arcand
We’re absolutely bursting at the seams with excitement and happy to announce that we are expanding our operations to Europe, with our initial focus on the French marketplace, which includes existing customers LeWeb, Reed MIDEM and Culture Buzz.
As we announced previously, with Mobile Roadie 2.2 we will offer native European language support in French, Italian, German, Spanish and Portuguese, which will automatically default to the user’s native settings on their device, all customizable from within our CMS platform. Our CEO and co-founder Michael Schneider put it this way when discussing our expansion into the European market:
“Investing in Europe is a priority for Mobile Roadie as the smartphone and app market is rapidly taking off. For example, France has the highest per capita of iPhone users in the world with an equally high level of content consumption and engagement by consumers, which is why our first local presence is in Paris. Our existing customers in Europe appreciate being able to quickly create a quality app that puts design and user experience at the forefront.”
So what do our current European customers thing about Mobile Roadie? Here’s what Anne de Kerckhove, Reed MIDEM’s Entertainment Division Director, had to say:
“We are delighted to welcome Mobile Roadie to Europe. We’ve partnered with them on all our entertainment markets – from television to music. The MIPTV and MIDEM iPhone applications have been a huge success and have really helped us to keep enhancing our customers’ experience at each market. Over the next 18 months we will be working with Mobile Roadie to deliver even better tools for our clients and look forward to continuing our partnership with this innovative company.”
Exciting things are in store as we continue to expand both our platform and our global business. If you’ve got business in Europe, why not let us help you provide a unique experience for your customers? Take the tour and find out what Mobile Roadie is all about.
iPhone 4.0 and What it Means For You
posted by Michael Arcand
Apple announced the new features that will accompany the upcoming update to the operating system when iPhone 4.0 comes out later this year. So what do these features entail and what do they mean for you, the Mobile Roadie customer? With over 100+ new user features, there’s no way we could cover them all in a single blog post, but here’s a list of the ‘tentpole’ features as described by Steve Jobs during his presentation earlier today.
1. Multitasking - Background audio, VoIP, Push notifications, Local notification, Task completion, Fast app switching
2. Folder App - Drag Drop UI, Intelligent naming, now you can have 2160 apps on iPhone
3. Enhanced Email - Unified inbox, Multiple exchange, Threaded messages & Fast switching
4. iBooks Support - EBook Reader, iBookstore, Buy once read anywhere, Sync page & bookmarks
5. Enterprise - Data protection, Mobile Device Management, Wireless app distribution, Multiple exchange accounts, Exchange server 201, SSL VPN support
6. Game Center - Social gaming networking, Invite friends, Matchmaking, Leaderboards, Achievement
7. iAd – Mobile Advertising
Now you’re asking yourself, “What’s in it for me?” What is this going to do for your business in relation to Mobile Roadie apps and why are we so excited about it? Here’s why.
First, background audio means that our apps can stream audio once you exit the app, just like you can now with the iPod feature, except this will be available to app developers, like Mobile Roadie. Second, the background location service means that our customer will be able to send push notifications to people at concerts and live events, without them even having to open up the app to update their location. Finally, when you say you’re going to a concert, we can automatically add it to the calendar for you.
These are just the tip of the iceberg with the new OS and Mobile Roadie is going to make sure your apps will be able to take advantage of all of the new features that Apple is coming out with. There is a ton of exciting stuff going on in our industry right now, and we want our customers to be on the cutting edge. Stay tuned, it only gets better.
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