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2. Tyler the Creator
Application: Golf Media
Tyler the Creator is a born entrepreneur: he started with socks, but as he became more and more famous, his ambitions grew accordingly. Tyler is now master and commander of one of the most insane apps in the smartphone market.
The Golf Media app is a combination of original content, merchandise, cartoons, and general insanity—Tyler describes it as "my brain in one place." That swings both ways—the app is known to be a little buggy, but Golf Media stays in good graces for its prodigious original output.
His time with the Loiter Squad and Thurnis Haley proved Tyler is full of ideas. With Golf Media, he's moved on to The Shane Show and The Jellies, but the creative faucet is still free-flowing.
4. Rome Fortune
5. Björk
Application: Biophilia
Now entering its fourth year of existence, Björk's app/album still stands as the top tier of artist-produced applications. It's a MIDI controller. It's a celestial map. It's freakin' beautiful, and it's a babysitter, too.
Biophilia was released alongside the album of the same name, and its imagery popped up during Björk's live shows and album art. The deeper you dive into the app's waters, the more rewarding it becomes.
7. Radiohead
8. Lil B
9. Drake & Lil Wayne
Application: Drake VS. Lil Wayne
For the Capcom-funded, Street Fighter-inspired Drake vs. Lil Wayne tour, the two artists released an app that let concertgoers choose which rapper to “power up” and open the show. Detailed in a bizarre promotional video which featured Wayne doing Rocky-esque training and Drake giving a walkthrough in his personal garage, the app was revolutionary in game-ifying the concert experience and promoting audience participation.
With the music industry becoming more and more reliant on concerts for revenue, you can expect future big-ticket tours to follow this model.
11. Goldfrapp
12. Yung Jake
13. T-Pain
Application: I Am T-Pain
Ever listen to a T-Pain song and think, “man, I really wish I could sound like T-Pain.” Well guess freakin' what: you can.
The “I Am T-Pain” app turns anything you say or sing into an Auto-Tuned track that you can record and share online. If that’s not your thing, you can sing along to any song in your iTunes library and feel like this.
This video of T-Pain Auto-Tuning Obama demonstrates pretty well what this app is about. It’s not life changing, but did you really expect that from a T-Pain app? And what’s three dollars for the 15 minutes of drunken fun you’ll get from it at a party?
15. Skrillex
Application: Alien Ride
In March of last year, bro-step pioneer Skrillex released a Galaga-like iPhone game called Alien Ride. Unbeknownst to many, the game had a hidden Easter egg: his 11-track album Recess, which debuted on the app. Alien Ride took inspiration from the Nine Inch Nail’s release of Year Zero in 2007, when front man (and current Apple Music exec) Trent Renzor executed an innovative PR strategy that had him releasing random hints which led to USB drives planted around the world.
Skrillex's app “is more direct than that. I didn’t want to confuse people or put them on a scavenger hunt,” his manager Tim Smith told Rolling Stone. Go check out Alien Ride for a lesson in 21st century music PR and relive the head bashing dub-step of Skrillex’s glory years.
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