Mobile Roadie

In London on 6/29? Join us for a Digital Music Event @DeanStudios

Mobile Roadie CEO, Michael Schneider, will be traveling to the U.K. next week and already has a packed schedule. One event we’re especially looking forward to is an evening focused on digital technology companies changing the future of music. The fun is taking place at Dean Street Studios and is presented by Underdogs Management.

It all goes down on Tuesday, June 29th, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at 59 Dean Street, Soho, W1D 6AN.  Other guests who will be leading the discussion include David Haynes, the UK representative from SoundCloud, as well as Wil Padley, founder of BandCentral, and Shamal Ranasinghe, co-founder of Topspin Media.

During this event you will get a chance to preview the products and hear specifically why these companies are influencing the future of digital music media.

Oh, and did we mention there will be cocktails?

If you’d like to attend, please RSVP jazz@deanst.com or faye@underdogsonline.com.

• posted under: Events, news

Infected Mushroom App in Time for #EDC! (@infectedtwitt)

Psy-Trance innovators, Infected Mushroom, (@infectedtwitt) have become one of the biggest electronic bands on the planet. Twice ranked among the world’s 10 best DJs by the bible of the scene, the U.K.’s DJ Magazine, the Israel-bred, Los Angeles based duo bring a frenetic rock energy to the form. Their explosive show, featuring guitars, live drums, intensely passionate vocals and an ambitious multimedia backdrop, ranks among the genre’s most unpredictably joyous events.

The band’s founders, Erez Eisen and Amit Duvdevani (also known as I.Zen and Duvdev), started performing together as a duo in 1998. By 1999, they’d created Infected Mushroom and released their debut album, The Gathering. Guitarists Tom Cunningham and Erez Netz were brought on board in 2004 and Brazilian percussionist Rogério Jardim joined in 2007 to play percussion and drums. The band has a total of nine albums released to date, with their latest offering, Legend of the Black Shawarma (2009), reaching the number nine spot on the U.S. Billboard Top Electronic Albums chart. The track “Killing Time” featuring Perry Farrell is currently #24 on the Billboard dance charts.

The release of the app is timed with the internationally-attended Electric Daisy Carnival in Los Angeles, happening June 25 and 26th in downtown’s Exposition Park & The L.A. Coliseum. Infected is a headliner and will be performing live at the Circuit Ground Stage on Friday the 25th from 8:00-11:00pm. Want a taste? Download the app (http://road.ie/infected-mushroom) and get official news, listen to tracks, watch show and behind-the-scenes footage from a selection of 25 videos, browse photos, post comments on the fan wall, get the latest show schedule, and more. What else do you want, a cookie? Get on it!

If you’ve never had the chance to attend EDC and shake your shizz, check out the official 2010 trailer below.

• posted under: Customers, Events, news
• 2 comments

Upcoming Events For May

Mobile Roadie’s recent expansion into European operations was a natural progression for us.  Why?  Because we literally have customers all over the world.  That’s one reason we pushed to have dynamic language support with the release of Mobile Roadie 2.2.  Going forward, we will continue to work to help all of our customers world-wide connect and engage with their audience.  The potential of mobile applications has never been better, and with our multi-platform capabilities under one CMS, it doesn’t get any better than this.

This next month is going to be a whirlwind of activity for us, with many conferences and summits scheduled.  If you are in the area, we would invite you to check out the information on the website linked to each company and if you can, come out and see us!  We would be more than happy to meet any of our customers and we’re always glad to get feedback from the field.  Here’s where you can find us in the month of May:

May 5th: Digital Hollywood (Los Angeles)
Our CEO, Michael Schneider, will be speaking on a panel entitled “Music Power Shift: iPhone & iPad and other App Platforms – Empowering the Artist, Label, Technologies & Management.”  The panel takes place from 10:45 a.m. – noon.  A live feed of the panel will be available here.

May 11-12th: Next Conference 2010 (Berlin)
Michael Schneider, will be speaking at this conference on the “App Economy” panel at 9:00 a.m. on May 12th.  We are also producing the official Android app for the event, which should be released soon.

May 12: Mobile Meets Entertainment Summit (San Francisco)
Brock Batten, our Creative Director, will be speaking at the summit at 10:00 a.m. on the “Music & Beyond” panel.  Discussion will center around how music is shared, what keeps users engaged, and revenue opportunities for artists, distributors and content owners.  We are also a sponsor for the event and producing the official iPhone and Android event apps.

May 12th: Smash Summit (San Francisco)
We are sponsoring the summit and providing an on-site demo table where you can see our product first-hand.  We’ll also be giving a five-minute presentation on Mobile Roadie.

May 13-16th: DC10 (DC)
Michael Schneider will be speaking on the panel entitled “App Explosion” as well as attending the event.  Mobile Roadie is producing the official iPhone and Android apps for the event.

May 14-17th: National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM 2010) (Chicago)
Michael Schneider will be attending this convention as well as speaking on the panel called “A Meeting of the Minds: The Music and Mobile Apps Development Process Considered.”  The panel takes place on Monday, May 17th, from 2:30-3:30 p.m.

May 20th: Mediabistro Circus (New York City)
Nicole Jordan, who runs our marketing and communications efforts, will be speaking at this event on the panel, “How We Manage Social Media.”  The panel takes place from 10:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. and will discuss the opportunities and challenges that social media presents for marketers.

May 26-28th: Music Matters 2010 (Hong Kong)
Michael Schneider will be speaking on a panel at 11:00 a.m. on May 28th, discussing mobile apps and other new technology in the music industry.  He will also be presenting and demoing the official app t0 the conference delegates on the first day of the conference.

• posted under: Events

MIPTV Panel on Mobile Engagement 2.0

During a recent trip to Cannes, France, Mobile Roadie CEO Michael Schneider made an announcement about our expansion into the European mobile apps market.  However, this wasn’t the only reason he went to the MIPTV conference.  He also was invited to sit on the MIPTV Panel on Mobile Engagement 2.0.

The panel was moderated by Jason DaPonte, Managing Editor for BBC Mobile (UK), whose first question out of the box was “How would you summarize what’s different about engaging people on mobile, compared to engaging people on the web, TV, or other media?” Michael was the first in line to answer the question, pointing to the higher level of engagement than the desktop, because it is mobile.

Other panelists included Claire Boonstra, Co-founder of Layar DV (Netherlands); Rudy de Waele, Chief Networking Officer from DotOpen (Spain); and Kurt Sillen, VP and Head of Customer Business Development from Ericsson (Sweeden).  The panelists were also asked about the commercial opportunities provided by the mobile web.  I have to admit that I was intrigued by the theory posited by Kurt Sillen, that the mobile app is dead.  By the end of the video he agreed it really isn’t dead, but his reason for throwing out that position was to challenge the panel not to get too connected or tied in to one technology alone.

I may be biased, but I think that Michael made the best defense in terms of the future of the mobile app:

“Until the mobile web becomes as engaging and as pretty, and frankly, as sexy as an app, it’s not going to provide the same value to the user.  One of the reasons the iPhone is as successful as it is, is because of the apps.”

You can watch the entire eight minute video at the MIPTV website here.

(Note: The Mobile Engagement Panel is the second video on the right. )

• posted under: Events, Mobile, news, video

Mobile Roadie Invades SXSW

Before we get to all our SXSW activities there’s a few things you might not know about Mobile Roadie.

One short year ago we officially launched our company and initial product (“iPhone Apps for Bands”) at SXSW Music with the support of our launch partner, The Orchard.

We immediately gained traction within music and entertainment to support their expanding needs to promote and build brands, engage direct-to-fan, and make use of existing promotional content (Facebook, Twitter, video, ticket sales/tour info, news, merchandise, etc.)

Then a church called. And then an author. And soon restaurants, politicians, venues, athletes, magazines, conferences, bloggers, and more.

Some of the customers in the Mobile Roadie family now include:

Not too shabby for the one year, right? And we haven’t even mentioned our partners yet.

To help make our CMS even more robust we integrated with leading providers in their respective industries:

• -Brightcove
• -Topspin Media
• -Artistdata
• -Ustream
• -Flurry

Mobile Roadie has also become a global brand with customers all over the world, which is why we offer support for 10 languages.  We’re also the only  company on the market to be able to serve both iPhone and Android needs, simultaneously, with no extra work or investment.

Michael attributes part of the rapid adoption to bringing democratization to the entire mobile space and giving control back to the brands. “Apps that were easy, affordable and quality we’re out of reach to those who wanted it. Now everyone can have high quality at low cost and you don’t have to choose between iPhone and Android.”

We’ve collected a lot of stories the past year through our stellar customers and can’t wait to share them at SXSW. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to hear them through the myriad of events we’re involved with.

How’s this for a SXSW SCHEDULE:

I’ll be getting in on Friday (@nicolejordan) so give me a shot (I’d meant to type “shout” but that works too) if you want to connect.  Brock (@brocksteady) and Michael (@msfd) get in Sunday the 14th for the first of our official events, TECH Cocktail where we’ll be demo’ing the Mobile Roadie platform and apps as one of the Microsoft Bizspark Accelerator finalists. Come on by and pick up a custom designed, vinyl-inspired shirts.

Monday the 15th you can catch us at Microsoft Bizspark Accelerator stage, where Michael will be presenting at 5:00pm in the social-business category. Later that evening we’re co-sponsoring events with TechKaraoke and Katalyst/Foursquare.

On Tuesday the 16th, to close out interactive and ease into music we’ve partnered up with two epic events: theMIX agency’s #theparty and (mt) official SXSW closing party.

If you’re hitting up music, join our team along with Topspin Media, All Access Today and PIAS on Thursday, March 18th at The Belmont from 7:00-10:00pm.

We’re also proud to announce that we’re the official app and co-sponsors for two must-attend showcases at SXSW Music: Levi’s Fader Fort and Ninjatune.

It’s going to be a packed schedule between the sessions, meetings, our events, and all the others we attend along the way. But we’ve got a lot to say and can’t wait to get started.  See you soon!

Doh! How could I forget this extremely important detail about our involvement at SXSW?  We are very proud sponsors of fellow Angelenos, and kindred start-up spirits, TechZulu.  They’ll be camped out at the Social Media Clubhouse most the time but if you’re lucky you might catch ‘em around the show or at any of our events!

• posted under: Events, news

APPetite for Construction: MoRo SXSW grafx preview

Here’s a little preview of the promo campaign we’re hitting Austin with next week at SXSW.

The theme: “APPetite for Construction” is without a doubt a reference to your favorite band — but we felt like going a little more retro/funk with our graphics by playing off old 45rpm record labels.

The design was created in collaboration with Dan Funderburgh, who’s one of the hottest wallpaper/pattern designers in NYC (not to mention a fellow Jayhawk). And since there seems to be a huge talent pool coming out of Lawrence, KS, we printed our shirts at the spectacular Blue Collar Distro, where they used a discharge printing process to lock in the vintage feel. In the end, I hope we accomplished our goal of trying to be as “un-nerdy” as possible! #yeahright

We’ll be giving away shirts and stickers to people that give us love, so look for us in Austin next week! (Our full schedule will be posted soon so you can see all the events we’re attending.)

• posted under: Events, Graphics
• 1 comment

Mobile Roadie: Powering Conferences & Events

We’re seeing a big trend for 2010 over here.  In addition to brands, artists, celebrities, and athletes signing up with Mobile Roadie, there’s significant interest in our platform from conferences, tradeshows and music
festivals.

Which makes a lot of sense.  Mobile Roadie Apps unite a disparate audience and what’s more disparate than thousands of people converging on one location for a number of days?  There’s bound to be people you’d love to
connect with — if you knew they were there. Or the desire to keep track of those impromptu meet-ups we’re prone to throwing.

Conference organizers and event promoters are increasingly turning to Mobile Roadie’s self-serve platform to quickly and easily build content-rich apps that promote their event, highlight speakers, connect attendees, incorporate the schedule, and sell tickets – among many other creative uses that are starting to emerge (hello video!)

Conference participants love being able to connect directly with the event and with each other as well as easily push Twitter and Facebook updates directly through the App using the viral tools.

LeWeb and Midem are great early adopter case studies that indicate the vast potential to use mobile to connect and communicate with a very targeted group of like-interested people. The LeWeb app marked the first time Ustream had been built into a third party application and was downloaded over 6,000 times, more than the total amount of attendees (check out TechCrunch’s interview.) The Midem app had equally strong adoption, also with over 6,000 downloads (see a demo of the app here.)

As a marketer, these are incredibly powerful statistics.  If you’re a organizer or event promoter in this digital age you have to keep in mind the audience that is with you physically and the audience that is not but wishes it were.  The ability to watch live streams on the desktop has become enough of a norm that we will also see this move to mobile. Imagine a population not attending the conference but walking around a different city and still
participating. It’s awesome.

Which leads to the inspiration for the post – The Future of Web Apps in Miami happening Monday, February 22nd – Wednesday 24th.  This is a three-day event designed for forward-looking web application developers, entrepreneurs and leading industry figures. You better believe it when we say the standards for this group are pretty high.  Which is why we were thrilled when they deemed Mobile Roadie the best and chose to build their App on our platform.

Anyone with an iPhone can download the app for free here.  As for you Android users. It’s coming. Very soon.

• posted under: Events, news
• 1 comment