midem is just one day away! For those of you who don’t know, midem is an annual event held in the city of Cannes, France where “artists, technology and brands are connected by music.” Last year, 6,850 participants from 3,120 companies spanning 77 countries attended midem.

If you’re attending midem this year, don’t forget to download the official midem app powered by Mobile Roadie. Available for iPhone, Android, and even iPad, the official midem app allows you to “consult the conference & festival schedule, discover speakers & artists line up, access a practical guide to Cannes, and view official photos & videos.” App users can also “read the latest industry news and see what companies & partners are at midem.” It’s the only thing you need to get around smoothly during the 4-day event.

To download the official midem app, visit http://road.ie/MIDEM

And don’t forget to RSVP for the Music Tech Meetup that we’re co-hosting with SoundCloud, Spotify, Topspin, Webdoc, MXP4, Musixmatch, Next Big Sound, The Orchard, and midem.

The top artist of 2011, according to Billboard Magazine, is none other than Adele. With an album that spent 13 weeks on top of the Billboard 200, sold more than 13 million copies worldwide, and garnered 6 Grammy nominations, Adele is a music phenomenon who is exploding not only in the music industry but in the mobile world as well.

It was only a few months ago that Adele launched her official mobile app powered by Mobile Roadie, but already it is being recognized not just by fans but by industry experts as well. The App Store editorial team has chosen the official Adele app as one of 2011′s best apps, featuring it on the front page under the Music apps category of App Store Rewind 2011 (iTunes France).

The official Adele app is featured alongside popular interactive music apps djay for iPhone & iPod, Songify, and Tap DJ, as well as Biophilia, which is Bjork’s interactive studio album in the form of an app that cost 3 to 4 times more than a regular album.

We’re honored to be chosen as one of the best apps in the App Store, and congratulations to Adele. To download her app, visit http://road.ie/adele

We revealed a little about Aurasma in our App of the Week post last week, but we wanted you to test it out first before revealing more. If you haven’t yet, download the Tech City app and scan the image of the Trampery logo below using your smartphone:

Pretty cool, right? This blending of two worlds- the physical and the virtual- is made possibly by Aurasma, augmented reality (AR) technology that was developed by UK-based Autonomy. Tech City is the first to be released in the series of apps will be created by Aurasma in partnership with the UK Government and Tech City, which couldn’t be more appropriate seeing how Tech City is a leader when it comes to cultivating and spreading technological innovation.

How Aurasma Works?
Aurasma uses “the smartphone’s camera, GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, and its position, acceleration, & direction to recognize objects &  images to seamlessly merge augmented reality actions into the scene. Without the need for barcodes or tags, the app is able to see its surrounding environment and make it fully interactive.” Through Aurasma, users can view “Auras”, which are virtual videos, animations, webpages, and the like, on top of certain images, symbols and objects in the real world that come to life when scanned.

The Prime Minister, after testing Aurasma on the Tech City app, said, “I’ve just seen Aurasma in action and it’s clear this app is about to change the way we see and interact with information. It’s fantastic that a technology like Aurasma, developed right here in the UK by Autonomy, is now being made freely available to all the innovative and creative companies that make up Tech City. It’s collaboration like this that makes Tech City such a magnet for talent and investment.”

What Aurasma means for the future of mobile engagement?
Apps integrated with AR technology can be conversation starters, especially for those who haven’t experimented with this technology before. And for mobile apps, Aurasma gives users the unique opportunity to blur the lines between what’s real and what’s virtual on-the-go, leading to more time spent on your app, increased shares, and overall, more buzz surrounding your brand or organization.

Scan the image of English band Magazine performing “Shot by Both Sides” for a sweet surprise:

Download the official Tech City app, available for Apple and Android, at http://road.ie/tech-city to see Aurasma in action.

Whatcha Say? Jason Derülo has a mobile app that contains all the info you’ll ever need on him, including audio, photos, tour dates, news, fan leader boards, social media integration and much more? That’s right, now fans from across the world can have an all-access pass to Jason Derülo via his official app powered by Mobile Roadie.

At only 22, Derülo has achieved much in his musical career thus far, writing songs for international artists like Diddy, Danity Kane, Lil Wayne and others, and ridin’ high with his solo career which includes opening up for Lady Gaga in The Monster Ball Tour and the Black Eyed Peas in The E.N.D. World Tour, having multiple Billboard Top 10 singles, and releasing his second studio album, Future History, last month. In addition to these accomplishments, last year he kicked off his first headlining tour called the “Jason Derülo World Tour” to a fully-packed venue in London.

Don’t miss out on this it app. Download the Jason Derülo app at http://road.ie/jason-derulo

By 2015, International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that 182.7 billion mobile apps will be downloaded, close to a 1600% increase from the 10.7 billion apps downloaded in 2010.  This impressive figure can be attributed to increases in smartphones and apps- both free and paid- that will continue to occur in the mobile market.

The top two app stores on the market today- Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Market- account for 19.5 billion apps downloaded so far.

Apple’s App Store

Figure 1: Courtesy of Apple, Inc

In the App Store, which currently has over 425,000 different apps for download, 15 billion apps have been downloaded, up 50% from 10 billion in January 2011 and up 400% from 3 billion in January 2010.  Reports indicate that the average iOS device owner will buy 61% more apps in 2011 than a year ago, totaling 83 app downloads this year, and be willing to pay 14% more for paid apps than a year ago.  82% of mobile apps for download are free.

Google’s Android Market

Figure 2: Courtesy of Google, Inc

In the Android Market, which is home to over 200,000 apps, 5 billion apps have been downloaded since launching in 2008, up 50% from 3 billion in May 2011 and up 350% from 1 billion downloads in August 2010.  In just under two months from May to July 2011, over a billion apps for Android were downloaded.

Time Spent on Mobile Apps

And with all these downloads, it makes sense that smartphone users are spending more time using mobile apps than surfing the Web, according to a recent study by Flurry. Time spent on mobile apps per user jumped 88% to 81 minutes from June 2010 to June 2011, while time spent web browsing only increased 16%.

Figure 3: Courtesy of Flurry

In Conclusion

The mobile app market is expected to be worth $14.1 billion next year and jump 160% to $36.7 billion in revenue from direct sales, in-app purchases and mobile app advertising in 2015. However, these estimates may be understated given the tremendous growth of the mobile app industry in recent years.

This app makes you feel like you’re at the LOVE show in Vegas, delivered right to your iPhone or iPad. From within the app you can buy tickets to the show, listen to clips from the album, buy individual songs or the entire album via iTunes, and more.

The Love INSIDER is a digital guide of the show, including cast, crew, and creators. Also available are video clips from many scenes, and a photo gallery. Social interaction is provided through Facebook and Twitter components built into the app.

You can join the mailing list for more Beatles news and get the latest ticket offers and promotions from Cirque du Soliel.

Download The Beatles LOVE app today for free: http://road.ie/beatles

What do you need to do once your app goes live in the app store? Here are some quick tips on how to maximize your app’s exposure and get the word out about what you’ve got to offer.

* Tweet about it. Twitter is a powerful tool and you probably already know that. Tell your followers about your new app on Twitter.

* Download your Fan Wall widget and use it on your website. You can find your widget in the CMS dashboard.

* Talk it up. This might sound silly in the age of the Internet, but word-of-mouth is still one of the most powerful forms of advertising. Don’t hold back.

* Communicate with your users. Use the Fan Wall to interact with your fans. Listen to what they have to say and respond to their questions. Use push notifications to keep them updated on important events.

* Give them a reason to keep coming back. This is by far is the most important thing you can do after your app has gone live. So what can you do to keep them coming back? Offer them exclusive material on the app, make advance tickets available – anything that keeps them engaged with your mobile platform. One idea that has met with success in this area is to give away a prize for participation in the app. Media Temple ran such a contest and gave away an iPad, among other prizes. Their contest resulted in participation from thousands of customers. Another way to keep users engaged is through push notifications. Ashton Kucher uses push notifications to share his A+ list of top videos every week. Taylor Swift engaged her fans in another unique way recently by streaming a 13-hour meet and greet live via Ustream to over 10,000 of her app users.

The bottom line is that once your app is live, you’ve got to get the word out there and make it engaging for the users. Building your mobile brand is really no different from building your brand offline or online. Bring people in by word of mouth or any other means possible, show them what you’ve got, and give them a reason to keep coming back.

Linkin Park is synonymous with alternative rock, nu metal, and rap rock music genres. Today, we’re proud to announce that Linkin Park is the newest addition to the Mobile Roadie family of apps. It’s our first artist app on our recently launched Mobile Roadie Pro product and includes their Topspin campaign integrated into the app itself.

Linkin Park is one of the top selling artists of all time in the Apple iTunes store, so we’re sure this app will be a big hit with mobile fans of the band.

Linkin Park was formed in 1996 and hails from Agoura Hills, California. The band hit a home run right out of the chute with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which went Diamond. Their follow-up album, Meteora, went to the top of Billboard’s 200 album chart in 2003, when the band was also named the sixth greatest band in music videos by MTV2. The band has done charity work around the world and collaborated with many other artists. To date, Linkin Park has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and won two Grammy Awards.

You can download the Linkin Park app at http://road.ie/linkin-park.

We’ve been working hard to get things ready, and the day has finally arrived! Mobile Roadie 3.0 is ready to roll out, and we’ve got some big surprises that will give our customers unparalleled creative control of their apps. So, hold on to your seats and let’s walk through the changes in this upgrade.

First, we’ve expanded our product offering from one CMS package to three. Now our customers will be able to choose their level of customization from Mobile Roadie CORE, PLUS, and PRO. We’ll talk about these in a minute, but first, let’s take a look at the system-wide features being rolled out with the free 3.0 upgrade:

*The Fan Wall has been updated with more location-based features.
*All apps are being upgraded to have Push Notifications.
*The Favorites feature is being added so app users can bookmark their favorite app content.
*A new Top Users section has been added to give a ‘gaming’ incentive for interaction within the app.
*iOS 4 support has been added for multitasking, background audio, and retina-display graphics, and more.
*iPod integration allows users to access music they already own from their audio library, providing a better quality experience.
*RSVPs for shows and events are now synced to the user’s calendar.
*International language support now includes Dutch, Russian, Turkish, Chinese (Simplified), and Korean.

Now for the main event! We’re proud to announce our new Pro service today. It’s been just over a year since Mobile Roadie launched, providing you with a content management system to produce customizable apps, first on the iPhone and then the Android platform. Now, we’re taking things to the next level.

Mobile Roadie Pro gives users the ability to fully customize the menu layout, colors, buttons, and fonts. The new CMS also supports multiple content categories, global search, and new landscape views. The apps pictured above are three examples that have been built on the Mobile Roadie Pro platform, taking advantage of the latest features.

The FADER is offering exclusive content to users who download their app. What users get, however, is a customized experience that utilizes our Pro features to meet FADER’s strict design requirements. You can download the FADER app at http://road.ie/the-fader.

The second example is the Ninja Tune app. Ninja Tune uses the new Pro CMS to feature profiles on all 90 of their musical artists, both new and old. In addition, users can see photos, stream video, buy tracks and concert tickets – all within the app. You can download the Ninja Tune app at http://road.ie/ninja-tune.

The last example of an app built using the new Pro service is the Wynn Las Vegas app. Users can make reservations, check out the restaurant menu, and even reserve a table for two. But why stop there? The app also features information about the nightlife, shopping, and entertainment in and around the hotel. The Wynn Las Vegas app can be downloaded at http://road.ie/wynn.

Our CEO, Michael Schneider, puts Pro into the perspective of our customers:

“In 2009 we launched the first self-service platform to create mobile apps, and today we are taking that a step further with deeper customization and content options.  With Pro, brands have complete control and can include as much content as they wish, all within the same easy-to-use interface that they’ve come to expect from Mobile Roadie.”

Last but certainly not least, we’re excited to launch our Partners Page, where you can check out all of our partners, whose products enhance your Mobile Roadie App. Our latest partners include Daily Motion for video and SoundCloud for audio. You can visit the partners page at http://mobileroadie.com/home/partners.

So what are you waiting for?

Mobile Roadie is proud to welcome Toby Keith to the family of Mobile Roadie apps. This is Toby Keith’s official iPhone app, and it’s just in time for his Ford Trucks sponsored American Ride Tour, which kicks off June 19th.

Toby Keith has been among the top musical performers in any genre throughout this decade, and is ranked among the top selling artists in all-genres at #3 on Billboard’s Top 200 Artists of the Decade. He was also named Billboard’s #1 Country Artist of the Decade and #1 Country Songwriter of the Decade, and was honored by Nashville Songwriters Assn. International (NSAI), which awarded him its prestigious Songwriter/Artist of the Decade Award.

He is also a three-time BMI Country Artist/Songwriter of the Year with his catalog generating more than 65 million performances. Keith’s business empire is as expansive as his hit making ability, encompassing restaurants, movies, a dclothing line and his own record label. In this decade alone, his singles have spent more than a year at No. 1 on the charts.

As for Mobile Roadie, we’re totally excited to add Toby Keith to our lineup.

“The country music fan audience is unlike any other we’ve seen.  They tend to have a higher level of engagement between artist and fan and consume a lot of content. We’re excited to add Toby Keith to our line-up of A-list artists using app technology to further engage with their audience.” – Michael Schneider, Mobile Roadie, CEO

Through the application, fans will be able to listen to tracks, view show schedules and purchase tickets, access the official store and engage with other fans who’ve downloaded the app via the Fan Wall.  It also features news, music, photos, videos, & more! Keep up with the Big Dog Daddy and get all of the latest updates from Toby Keith directly on your iPhone.

You can download the Toby Keith iPhone app free at http://road.ie/toby-keith