The recent release of Jay Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail album caused much hype throughout the Internet, and not necessarily for a good reason. On July 4, 1 million Samsung smartphone users were able to download a copy of the album for free. Sweet deal right? Well, there was actually a huge price to pay. Aside from the $5 million that Samsung paid for the digital copies, users were required to share their personal information, such as location and network information, to access the album.
Users were to sign into the app via Facebook or Twitter and send out messages to their friends about the app if they wanted to unlock lyrics to a song. After many complaints filed against Samsung for the lack of user privacy, they replied with this statement:
“Any information obtained through the application download process was purely for customer verification purposes… Samsung takes customer privacy and the protection of personal information very seriously.”
Samsung was also criticized when fans struggled to download Jay Z’s album due to a crash in the system. These two issues certainly have us questioning the reliability of future music album apps. Forbes writer Bobby Owsinski gives us a few reasons not to trust the newest app craze in his article “Why Album Apps Will Fail.” He claims that there are simply too many apps on the market to compete with. Also, it doesn’t take long for someone to get bored of an app that they were once excited about. We usually end up deleting most of the apps we download. Owsinski also says that apps are not a convenient way to consume music.
Many artists don’t seem to mind taking the risk of creating an app for their albums. Recently, singer Bjork released her Biophilia album app for Android, two years after her iPad album app was launched. Just last year indie-rock band The xx released an interactive app for iPhone and Android phones as a supplement for their album, Coexist, as well.
Lady Gaga will be the next artist to test out the album app this Fall with the release of her much-awaited album ARTPOP. Lady Gaga’s Artpop app has been a working project since September 2012. Many would argue that the cost to create the album app could outweigh the album itself, but with an artist as famous as Gaga, revenue should not be a problem.
Cory Holbrook, a senior majoring in communication, says he is enthusiastic about the future of album apps. “I think album apps have potential, for sure. I think it’s great that artists are trying to connect with their fan bases and build communities.”
The overall goal of the album app is to engage audiences in a new way. These apps, complete with interactive features and exclusive content, give the user insight on their favorite music artists. Album apps could very well be used to facilitate a relationship between the artist and their fans, which results in a stronger fan base. Who knows, maybe these apps will change the history of music forever.