EMI has added some high-profile content to its developer sandboxes initiative – the partnership with The Echo Nest which opens up parts of its catalogue for developers to build apps with. Robbie Williams’ entire back catalogue has now been added to the collection.
The news is being announced this afternoon at Midem, alongside the unveiling of the winner of EMI’s $5,000 prize contest for the first wave of sandbox developers. An app called Crispy Chiddy Bang is the winner. It presents songs by the hip-hop group as tappable remix scenes.
“We were very pleased with the amount of entries,” EMI’s Neil Tinegate tells Music Ally. “We had several hundred new [developer] keys registered, and we are now working with about eight apps in the pipeline on a commercial basis.”
The Chiddy Bang app is now being developed further, while EMI handles the necessary negotiations with the band’s management to get it released – hopefully around their album’s launch in March.
The Robbie Williams news is significant, especially in the light of the star’s recent departure to Universal Music Group for his future recorded output. EMI still has his back catalogue though, with the label’s Bertrand Bodson saying Williams’ management were “incredibly open to the [sandbox] idea: they totally bought into it”.
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