Sing-Along: Artist-Specific Apps Head To iPhone
Interscope Geffen A&M (IGA), a division of Universal Music Group, is the first record label to launch applications powered by Kyte, a turnkey digital media platform that lets companies produce and distribute content online and to mobile devices.
Initially, IGA has launched applications for The All American Rejects, The Pussycat Dolls, Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, Lady Gaga and Keri Hilson. The apps, available for free through the Apple AppStore, feature video content created by the artists and include customer branding, mobile advertising, m-commerce links for buying the artists' music and merchandise and an RSS reader for artist-related news alerts.
The Kyte-based applications also drive interactive features such as the ability to chat with other fans, comment and rate shows and share content.
"Kyte allows us to easily deliver iPhone and iPod Touch apps that connect our artists with their fans in a fully immersive, interactive experience," Ted Mico, executive vice president of digital for IGA, said in a statement. "Fans will be able to watch exclusive, behind-the-scenes content, chat in realtime and purchase artist content, all from the iPhone and iPod Touch."
San Francisco-based Kyte is an end-to-end online and mobile platform that lets companies produce, distribute and monetize digital content, enabling media brands to create live and on-demand video and photos; broadcast content to multiple online and mobile destinations simultaneously; interact with an audience; and build community through multimedia chat and branded user-generated content. Kyte also lets companies report and measure distribution and user engagement while creating new revenue streams and monetizing branded content.
"IGA artists are using Kyte to produce authentic, raw video content every day, which keeps fans coming back again and again to see what's new and interact with each other, said Kyte CEO Daniel Graf in a statement, adding that delivering content to iPhone and iPod Touch devices "is a powerful, cost-effective way for companies to converge their online and mobile audiences into a single community."