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Bjork's interactive 'Biophilia' album is the first downloadable app in MoMA's permanent collection
We've seen lots of crazy things on display at the Museum of Modern Art -- a "rain room," a sex toy that works with your phone, a sleeping Academy Award-winning actress. Now you can add "tablet app" to that list. Bjork's "Biophilia," an interactive album released on iOS and Android, has become the first downloadable app to join MoMA's permanent collection. First released in 2011 (and still available for sale), the album allows listeners to "contribute" to songs by playing with interactive on-screen visuals. In "Solstice," for instance (pictured above), the orbits actually allow you to control the string music, with the option to save and record your own version. Ultimately, it was that interactivity that earned the app a spot in the collection. "With Biophilia, Björk truly innovated the way people experience music by letting them participate in performing and making the music and visuals, rather than just listening passively," said MoMA senior curator Paola Antonelli in a blog post.
The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for June 13, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
Daily Update for Sept. 2, 2011
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes, which is perfect for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen.
Building Björk's "Biophillia" iPad app
Creative Applications has got an interesting post on the development of Björks new app album, Biophillia, as well as the in-app purchased track, "Virus." As mentioned on TUAW a few weeks back, Björk released what she refers to as the first "app album" on the iOS App Store. The Icelandic artist is renowned for being different, particularly when it comes to her music, and the app album, Biophillia, is certainly different from most other traditional album releases. Creative Applications got in touch with Scott Snibbe -- co-creator of the app -- to get some insight into how Biophillia came about. The post includes details on the journey of the app's development, including some concept sketches by Björk and Scott, the tools used to code the app and some of the inspirational imagery behind it. While Biophillia is a free app download, users are required to purchase the songs of the album via in-app purchase as they are released, though the song "Cosmogony" comes free with the app. Each song brings with it an additional component to the world of Biophillia -- lyrics, the score, animation, credits and a blurb about the song. It's all very interactive and certainly a unique way to listen to an album. If you're a fan of Björk's Biophillia app, the post is certainly worth a read. And from an app developers point of view, it's an unique eye opener into the work that's gone on behind the scenes.
Was Jonas Sandwall the first artist to launch an app album for iOS?
Last week, musician Björk released what she claimed was the world's first app album for iOS. Though this is her first app album, it may not be the first to hit the app store. EMI launched Swedish House Mafia's "Until One" album as an iPad app back in March 2011. This pre-dates Björk, but even "Until One" may not be the first album app. An email from Jonas Sandwall suggests we need to look back even farther to find the first app album for iOS. The independent Swedish artist claims his app album was the first to hit the market back in November 2010. The app is available for free from the Swedish app store and includes three free songs. Extra content such as lyrics, chord sheet music and artwork are available as an in-app purchase for about US$2.00 By launching last November, Sandwell did get a jump on his bigger competitors like EMI, but is he actually the first? Does anyone know of an app album that launched before November? [Via Jonas Sandwell]
Björk releases first "app album"
When it comes to thinking different, Icelandic musician Björk leads the pack. She's just come out with what she refers to as the world's first "app album" consisting of an iPad and iPhone app featuring ten songs, each of which has an accompanying interactive app of its own. The app, titled "Biophilia," is free to download. The song apps are in-app purchases at $1.99 each, although the first song on the album, "Cosmogony", is free. Two more songs -- "Crystalline" and "Virus" -- have been released so far. Richard McManus, writing for ReadWriteWeb, commented that "what impresses me about this album is her inventiveness in coming up with a brand new album format - the 'app album.' Plus she finds a new way to make money from her music." Biophilia opens with an introduction narrated by none other than David Attenborough (see video below) in which he explains the theme of fusing nature, music, and technology to "listen, learn, and create." As an example of the individual song apps, Crystalline has you navigating through space collecting crystals with the song as accompaniment. Collect the crystals in the requested order (by bumping into them as you fly through tunnels) to unlock new tunnels, increasing replay value. You can also view a gallery of your crystals and share them with friends. Virus includes an instrument mode, where tapping on images creates sounds from different instruments, so you're creating your own song from the same instruments Björk used -- and many of the sounds were created on the iPad. You unlock "instrument mode" by first playing the game: allowing microscopic invaders to effect neighboring cells, turing them into the instruments you eventually get to play. Will other musicians follow Björk's lead and create their own app albums? It depends on both the success of Biophilia and the creative chops of those other musicians. Are you ready for app albums? Which artist would you like to see create an app album? Let us know in the comments.
