A few artists have released iPhone apps now that give fans access to their music. Some of the more advanced ones even allow you to edit tracks. But now Universal Music Group (specifically, Interscope Geffen A&M) is apparently going to start launching these for its artists on a regular basis.
It’s launching a new app platform called Romplr in conjunction with digital entertainment studio, Moderati. The first app built on the platform, released today, allows you to remix songs by hip hop artist Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em. Basically, you pick one of Soulja Boy’s tracks, and controls pop up that allow you to decide the various aspects of the song that you hear. And you can tweak things pretty easily.
Then, when you’re done, you can share the recording you just made via email, on the Romplr site or on Facebook with one click. Right now, you can only edit three tracks “Crank That”, “Hey You There” and “Turn My Swag On,” but you will be able to download more.
The UI is nothing to write home about, but for those millions of people who inexplicably download ringtones, apps like this should be right up their alley. And apps like this should be a good test of the in-app purchasing system that was implemented with the iPhone 3.0 software update. It’s not clear if you buy a song in the app, if you can also access it through iTunes, but I would assume not. Regardless, apps that use real music tracks, such as Tap Tap Revenge, are proving to be hugely popular.
Moderati has a history of success in the App Store as it was behind the popular Zippo app, which was downloaded over 4 million times, we’re told. But the plan for this project extends beyond just the iPhone, as Android, BlackBerry and Ovi are all being targeted as well.
You can find the Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em Romplr app in the App Store now for $4.99 [iTunes Link].
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