10 Best iPhone Apps for Music Lovers
By Samuel Axon, Mashable
The iPod Touch is known for two things: its ability to store and play back music, and its large library of apps. The iPhone is the same device but with phone functionality and a 3G data connection. If you have either, you've probably guessed that they're great for apps that enhance your music-listening experience.There are at least hundreds or maybe thousands of music apps for the iPhone and iPod touch. Some of them are fantastic -- some not so much. Consider this list of 10 apps a sampler of the best the Apple App Store has to offer. Each one is both popular and highly rated by iPhone and iPod Touch owners like you, but we'll admit we've also selected some personal favorites!
This list wouldn't be complete without feedback from you, our readers, so be sure to tell us which apps you'd add in the comments.
1. Pandora Radio
Pandora is the go-to streaming
music app for a lot of mobile and web users. The service the app
accesses
uses advanced recommendation algorithms to play music for you that
matches
your tastes. It builds custom stations around your favorite artists,
and those stations are refined as you give it feedback about which
tracks
and artists you love and which ones you hate.
The app is simple as can be; just type in the name of a song or artist,
and music starts playing that's either by that artist or someone
Pandora's
algorithm deems similar. Enjoy the beats and melodies, and bookmark
songs you like so you can buy them through download services.
Price: Free
2. I Am T-Pain
You might not even believe this one until you use it. I Am T-Pain is
a full-featured Auto-Tune tool that works on your iPhone or iPod touch.
In case you're not familiar with Auto-Tune, here's the scoop: You record
your voice (Say whatever you like!) and then digitally apply a melody
to it. It doesn't sound quite natural, but that's okay, because the
Auto-Tune sound is big in popular music right now, especially with the
app's namesake T-Pain. Several of T-Pain's tracks are included with
the app, and it can read your iTunes library for music, too.
Price: $2.99
3. Ocarina
One of the first music-making apps, Ocarina has hardly waned in popularity.
It's just what you would guess -- a digital ocarina. You blow into
the microphone as you would blow into the ocarina, and the touchscreen
has dots in place of an ocarina's holes. Additionally, Ocarina has a
globe view that lets you see and listen to performances by other people
who are using the app all over the world.
App developer Smule runs an online
forum full of
notation to help Ocarina fans figure out songs. The songs are mostly
user-submitted and they cover a wide range of styles. However, because the ocarina
instrument received a boost in popularity after it was featured in the
very popular video game The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time,
there are a bunch of video game songs to be found on the forum.
Price: $0.99
4. Shazam
Shazam's primary feature is its ability to recognize almost any popular
song playing nearby. Just whip out your iPhone or iPod Touch and load
up the app when you hear a song you like but don't recognize, and Shazam
will tell you what it is and provide you with information about where
to buy it digitally. There's also a chart of popular songs that will
help you find great songs to listen to.
The app can launch Pandora's streaming service, and it has an elaborate
tagging system. You can share your tags with your friends on Twitter or Facebook.
The developer has launched two versions of Shazam. There's a free
version
simply called Shazam, and there's Shazam
Encore, which
supports
unlimited tagging and a few additional features.
Price: Free or $4.99
5. Slacker Radio
Don't trust computer recommendation algorithms to pick songs out
for you? Slacker Radio is an online music streaming service that's carefully
curated by either music experts or other users. It also has artist-themed
stations like Pandora does, but it goes about creating them in a completely
different way. Download this app and you'll have access to 2.4 million
songs on 100 programmed stations and 10,000 artist stations. We think
that's a great deal at "free."
Price: Free
6. BeatMaker
You know how they say "you get what you pay for" when you end up with a poor product because you spent very little money on it? That works the other way too;
sometimes dropping a few extra dollars gets you a superior product. BeatMaker
proves the point. At $19.99, it's very expensive for an iPhone app.
But it's a pocket-sized, full-featured music production studio, and
the consensus among critics and users alike is that it's fantastic. The app offers up a bunch of sound samples that you can splice together and modify to make music. You can mix and tune to your heart's content; you can even get into the nitty gritty of frequencies and timings. BeatMaker is one of the best music creation apps on the iPhone and iPod touch as long as you're willing to pay real money for it.
Price: $19.99
7. Pocket Guitar
Pocket Guitar doesn't have high-end professional features like BeatMaker, but it only costs a dollar -- a perfect price for a fun toy. As with Ocarina, the name tells you what you need to know: This app is a
pocket-sized guitar simulator. You can pluck and strum the virtual strings using
your device's touchscreen.
There is an impressive array of customization options for a $0.99 app.
You can tune each string individually and activate and modify various
effects. For example, you can set a delay by the millisecond between
100 milliseconds and 10 seconds, and adjust the level and feedback.
You won't be cranking out any top 40 rock records with this app, but
it's certainly fun.
Price: $0.99
8. Everyday Looper
Making music with loops is attractive because it's easy. You don't need a lot of technical knowledge to do it. You definitely don't need to know how to play a musical instrument. You just need some basic
understanding of musical timing.
Everyday Looper is one of most popular looping apps for the iPhone and
iPod touch. The interface isn't gorgeous, but it's easy to use and very
functional. There are more robust looping apps out there, but they cost
more. There are cheaper ones, but they're not powerful enough to keep
your attention for more than five minutes. We feel that Everyday Looper
is the best bang-for-your-buck.
Price: $4.99
9. Bandsintown
Bandsintown tells you which bands are playing in your city, when they're playing, and at which venues they're playing. It's associated with a web
service that does the same,
importing your listening habits from your Pandora or Last.fm account
and serving you tour info based on what it finds. The iPhone and iPod
Touch app scans your music library so it can accurately target concert
recommendations for you. You can track specific artists to find out
when they're playing nearby. Price: Free
10. Tune Runner
Tune Runner imports your entire iTunes/iPod music library and turns
each track into a game. To play, you draw shapes on the screen with
your finger in time with the music before your robot avatar hits them
and takes damage. Each time you do a shape correctly you regain health.
There are ways to spice it up too; you can draw shapes several times
before they disappear for tons of bonus points. There are leader boards
so you can compare your high scores with other people who played the
same tracks.
Price: Free
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