Artists Who’ve Embraced The Power Of Apps

Credit: Elliot Lee Hazel

Each day, we open our phones and access a multitude of apps. Some for fun, some for convenience and some out of necessity. The past decade has seen a boom in the world of apps, with design capabilities improving and our overall time spent on apps increasing. This week, we’re taking a look at some of the best executed mobile phone apps from musicians. 

Racing With The Wombats 

To promote their latest single ‘This Car Drives All By Itself’, The Wombats have shared their own phone game. In The Wombats: Official Game, players can choose to race to The Wombats concert as Murph, Dan or Tord. There’s a number of locations to race in too, with seperate maps for Sydney, Egypt, Tokyo, Liverpool and more.

The gameplay itself is of course soundtracked by ‘This Car Drives All By Itself’, while the games menu screens treat players to a remix of ‘If You Ever Leave I’m Coming With You’.

Björk’s Cosmic Exploration 

Björk’s ‘Biophilia’ app wasn’t just one app, it was 10 apps within one, designed to explore the relationship between musical structures and natural phenomena.

By navigating the constellation-themed menu, users can dive into the fascinating world created for the album. It features each of the albums tracks, and extras like visuals, games and animations. There's even audio from David Attenborough that explains the app itself. The project really upped the ante by creating a whole world of ‘Biophilia’.

Coexisting With The xx

The xx’s album ‘Coexist’ was partnered by an app that offered fans the opportunity to play around with interactive artwork and enjoy exclusive visualisers. The app also acted as a home base for fans, directing them to links to merch and shows. To add a personal touch, the band also posted messages to the app to further connect with users.

While phone apps might not suit every artist’s campaign, when carefully considered and curated, they can become a meaningful way to further a release narrative, and to engage with fans. 



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