Music Ally

appDowner isn’t the first unsanctioned iPhone application store, but it’s the first one to use BitTorrent technology. It’s actually an iPhone app, too, which can be used to download other apps, or any content (e.g. music) from BitTorrent.

Which sounds like reason to worry if you’re Apple or rightsowners. However, one point made by a commenter on TorrentFreak’s story on it is sensible: who’s going to be seeding the content? It’s not as if people will have their iPhones running appDowner all day (not least because of battery life).

We should say, appDowner only works on iPhones that have been ‘jailbroken’ to run unauthorised applications – so it won’t lead to a mass outbreak of piracy from regular iPhone owners, nor does it have any likelihood of being allowed onto the official App Store.

Earlier this month, INgrooves announced it was handling global digital distribution and marketing for the new Spinal Tap album, Back From The Dead.

The campaign includes an iPhone application, and a YouTube contest for fans to create their own music videos for Spinal Tap songs. We talked to INgrooves CEO Robb McDaniels to find out more about this campaign, and his views on the wider digital music marketing sector.

INgrooves has been working on the project since January. “It presented an interesting challenge in many respects,” he says.

“They’re a band in a movie, not a real band. Yet they play as a real band! And their fans skew towards the older demographic that has not necessarily moved fully into the digital world. It made the project interesting and challenging to work on.”

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Brian ”BT” Transeau has announced a new iPhone app to promote his new album The Rose of Jericho. Created for the trance DJ by developer Sonik Architects, Sonifi lets fans remix his songs and videos, adding beats and sounds, while shaking their iPhone for a so-called “stutter edit”.

We’re also very impressed by the way it uses the new iPhone 3.0 software to provide a Bluetooth two-person mode, where one of you controls beats and bass, while the other handles melody and harmony. Soon, other artists will be included via downloadable packs.

We said in last week’s Music Ally Report that iPhone 3.0 has huge potential for music apps. Well, here’s the first proof, although the latest update of Tap Tap Revenge is also hinting at great things ahead. Want a go on BT’s app? Click here to open its App Store page.

Streaming music service Imeem has revealed that it now has more than one million users of its mobile applications (on iPhone and Android), although it’s the Android version that the company seems most excited about.

Android listening sessions are more than twice as long as on iPhone, says CEO Dalton Caldwell, and the app is now on two out of every three Android handsets – with a third of Android users new to Imeem.

What about BlackBerry, which has been aggressively trumpeting its suitability for music apps this year? “It’s a total pain to install anything on the BlackBerry,” says Caldwell. Ouch.

There’s been no shortage of speculation about Apple boss Steve Jobs’ health in recent months – much of it gloomy. Now the Wall Street Journal has a more positive report, claiming that Jobs will return to work at Apple later this month following his medical leave.

It even suggests he may make an appearance at Apple’s WWDC event, which kicks off later today. It seems Jobs had a pretty bad time recently: “He was one real sick guy,” says the paper’s (anonymous) source. “Fundamentally he was starving to death over a nine-month period. He couldn’t digest protein. [But] he took corrective action.”

Tonight’s keynote speech is expected to see the unveiling of a new iPhone, possibly with video-calling. Our prediction: Jobs will be video-called from the stage. Maybe.

Apple has filed a patent for a technology called “Methods and systems for mixing media with communications”, which involves a new ”Add Media” feature on the iPhone, letting people send music, video, images and other items to people while voice-calling them.

“For example, the user may initiate a telephone call with his friend in order to ask the friend if she is familiar with a particular song,” it reads.

“Once the phone call has been established between the user and his friend, the user may select the song of interest from his communications device, and he may send the song to his friend… so that the two may continue their phone conversation while the song plays simultaneously.”

UK streaming music service We7 is developing its own iPhone application, and hopes to have it available on the App Store by the end of this year, CEO Steve Purdham has told Music Ally. The company has also got an Android version of the app running in its labs, and is currently evaluating other mobile platforms, including BlackBerry.

This means that by the end of this year, nearly every major streaming service will have mobile apps available. Spotify recently showed off its Android app, and is known to be working on iPhone and Series 60 versions. Meanwhile, the likes of Imeem, Last.fm and Pandora all have mobile apps already available.

Has anyone asked MySpace Music what its plans are? Just a thought.

Where there’s money, there’s Gene Simmons looking to hoover up as much of it as possible. Such is the case with iPhone applications, and specifically virtual lighters, which let you hold up your iPhone and show off a virtual flame to show potential muggers your exact location devotion to a band.

Anyway, Kiss is jumping on board the virtual lighter bandwagon, through a deal with US firm Spark of Blue. The app will cost $0.99 in the US, and its blurb promises that the “realistic flame sways and moves as you move your hand”, with a selection of riffs playing in the background.

What’s more, Kiss isn’t the only artist working with Spark of Blue – apparently virtual lighters for The Who, Lil Wayne and Poison will be hitting the App Store soon. Want the Kiss app? You know you do! Fire up its page on the App Store by clicking here.

Nokia has announced Orange as a UK mobile operator partner for its Comes With Music Service; together the two companies will launch Comes With Music exclusively for Orange customers on the Nokia 5800 phone.

Orange will be the only UK network to offer the service, marketing it through five plans ranging from £25 a month for 200 minutes, 300 texts and unlimited music to £45 a month for 1200 minutes, 500 texts and unlimited music.

Nokia (which in a previous Music Ally blog article refused to confirm rumours that Comes With Music has picked up 23,000 UK users)  has arguably suffered through its association in the UK thus far with pay-as-you-go, so the ability for the service to be subsidised through a contract should raise Nokia’s game. Price-wise, however, it’s no iPhone killer: Over-the-air downloading of tracks will be possible, though only “at standard mobile data prices”, meaning no iPhone-like unlimited data tariff for now.

Update…..

Nokia’s PR firm LexisPR contacted us this morning to ask that we clarify the statement that “Orange will be the only UK network to offer the service.” In fact Orange will be the only UK network to offer the 5800 phone, but Comes With Music will also be available to contract customers on 3’s UK network.

In fairness, Nokia’s own press release this morning stated “Starting at under £25 per month, Orange will be the only UK network to offer the service and will do so across five ‘Comes with Music’ price plans.” so we can be forgiven for being slightly confused. And ultimately it’s – in part – the small print and confusing messages which have helped to keep CWM handsets on the shelves so far.

One of the major advantages of the new partnership with Orange’s scale is that the pair of them should be able to double the marketing around Comes With Music and move away from the strange stripy line campaign. Now, how to explain the data tariff issues…

Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor has blasted Apple for what he describes as an inconsistent approach to obscene content. Apple rejected an updatedversion of the Nine Inch Nails iPhone app, possibly on the basis that it provided access to “The Downward Spiral”, a song with explicit lyrics. Reznor griped on Twitter that the very same song is available on the iTunes store, saying: “Thanks Apple for the clear description of the problem – as in, what do you want us to change to get past your stupid f***ing standards?” At the moment, although the iTunes store has a parental guidance function allowing parents to prevent their kids from downloading songs with naughty lyrics, there is no equivalent feature for iPhone apps. For the time being Reznor’’s development team has removed the link to the offending track.