A bit of time has passed since reporting a story on our friends over at Conduit last August. Not surprisingly though, since their mobile artist app service is so customizable and the company itself well known in the tech industry, another creative soul has taken advantage of what Conduit has to offer, bringing new tech to the surface now.
Hitting the digital newsstand with a double whammy, widely established rap artist Meek Mill has launched a new app fueled by Conduit’s music app machine, which is designed specifically to promote Meek Mill as an artist, along with his music. The rapper followed up this news with a same day announcement about an upcoming tour of shows around Canada next month. Regarding the latter, according to the information listed through the tour section on Meek Mill’s official Facebook page, there are five dates in five different cities planned, with things kicking off on February 20 in Montréal.
If anything, those fans who reside in Canada may end up being especially high downloaders and frequent users of Meek Mill’s personalized artist app, in order to get up-to-date, and keep up-to-date, with all the latest news and behind-the-scenes nuances of the artist’s life, pre-tour. Aside from the nicely condensed ability to connect with, and peruse through an artist’s digital content, Meek Mill’s Conduit app is also designed with his latest release at the forefront of its features. The album, “Dreams and Nightmares,” released last October, is strongly emphasized and smartly supported within the app. Users are given access to its songs for on-demand streaming, along with official music videos.
The rest of the central elements built into the app include:
- Dynamic Newsfeed – Not only do users get Meek Mill’s collective social media updates, but they can also watch for special contests and promotions.
- Merchandise Shop – Users can purchase merchandise right from the app, without getting routed to multiple other webpages, ranging from music to apparel and accessories can be purchased through Warner Music Group.
- Concert Info – Any news pertaining to Meek Mill’s shows gets sent right to the app to keep fans and ticket buyers informed.
- Meekstagram – Think of this as Meek Mill creating his own individual version of Instagram. After choosing existing or taking new photos, the app provides eight special filters stylized to the aesthetic of “Dreams and Nightmares.” Users can put these effects, along with the logo for the album onto their pictures and then upload them to their Instagram accounts for sharing – and like the merchandise store – without leaving the app.
Li-at Karpel Gurwicz, the marketing manager for Conduit Mobile, with whom we’ve spoken before, worked on Meek Mill’s app and provided additional background on this latest artist partnership, as well as some of the thought that went into app development itself:
SoundCtrl: So I know from past research and discussions with Conduit staff, what the premise and unique aspects of its artist app system are and that it didn’t take long for artists to want to jump on board with the idea. Even though it has been stated above that the app complements Meek Mill’s newest album, “Dreams and Nightmares,” was that the singular motivation that sparked the whole process for Meek Mill to work with Conduit’s technology and initiate the app creation process? Had he been aware of Conduit’s app success with other artists before now?
Li-at: While the release of “Dreams and Nightmares” is what prompted Meek Mill to first consider creating his own mobile app, he chose to work with Conduit Mobile because of the existing relationship with Warner Music, and because of the success of previous Conduit Mobile apps – in particular, that of fellow hip-hop artist Waka Flocka, which, following its release, was one of Apple’s most downloaded music apps.
Meek Mill’s official app is a continuation of the Conduit Mobile App Machine partnership with Warner Music. This partnership was launched out of a mutual interest to take artist-audience connectivity beyond concerts, radio stations, and websites, and into the modern mobile world. Meek Mill wanted to develop a mobile app in order to engage with his fans directly and interactively, and the partnership with Conduit Mobile has allowed him to do exactly that.
SoundCtrl: Each artist who makes an app with Conduit is most likely looking to inject as much of themselves and their artistic aesthetic/vision into the finished product as possible. Taking into account the app creation system being as user friendly and streamlined as it is, were there any special insights from Meek Mill that you can recall, that he shared and/or requested be infused into his app, beyond average user parameters?
Li-at: Conduit Mobile’s platform allows users to build apps that are completely customizable – everything having to do with their appearance, features, and functionality – in order to best reflect the brand’s image, look, and feel.
Meek Mill’s official app was the product of a collaborative effort between Meek Mill, the record company, and Conduit Mobile. Through joint brainstorming sessions, we worked together to develop an app that best fits Meek Mill as an artist and also reflects the theme of his new album. By combining Meek Mill’s artistic vision and Conduit Mobile’s technical know-how, we were able to put together some cool and innovative features that encapsulate Meek Mill’s style and brand.
For example, Meek Mill is a big fan of creative photo-sharing technology and he wanted to incorporate an Instagram-type feature into his app to share filtered photos with his audience and fans. Conduit Mobile combined his vision with our unique LiveAlbum feature to create “Meekstagram,” one of the app’s standout features. Meekstagram integrates Meek Mill’s latest album with the native capabilities of mobile apps by allowing users to take pictures with their mobile device cameras from within the app, and then imprint various dream/nightmare-themed filters on the images. The feature then embeds the “Dreams and Nightmares” logo from the album cover inside the image, basically enabling users to create their own album covers. The images can then be uploaded and viewed by others within the app’s feed, for fellow fans (and Meek Mill himself) to enjoy.
When Conduit Mobile developed Meekstagram for the Meek Mill app, we liked it so much that we decided to apply the same idea to our popular LiveAlbum feature. Now, all LiveAlbum users can put filters on pictures taken within the app. In this way, Conduit Mobile is constantly augmenting and evolving the features and app capabilities we offer, benefiting everyone that uses the Conduit Mobile platform.
SoundCtrl: From a technical standpoint, if Meek Mill’s app takes off, gains serious popularity, and sees him and his PR team wanting to heavily embrace it in the longer term, would it be easy and or sensible for him to modify the app in the future? (For per se, a more general use outside of “Dreams and Nightmares” or to fit the theme of a new record?) Or would it make more sense to simply start from scratch?
Li-at: One of the biggest advantages of the Conduit Mobile Platform is that it’s entirely dynamic. Publishers are able to freely update, tweak, and review their apps as their brands and audiences evolve – in fact, we encourage it – and that’s our motto: Go Mobile, Grow Mobile.
Meek Mill decided to launch his app in honor of his new album, but it is named “Meek Mill,” and not “Dreams and Nightmares” for a reason. The official Meek Mill app is a reflection of the artist and his brand, and it was created to have staying power. The app is designed to represent Meek Mill the artist, so he can continue using the app and letting it grow with him and his music career as he continues to build and strengthen his fan base.
SoundCtrl: Just as a quirky last question: Who exactly thought up the term of “Meekstagram?” It has certainly got a signature, and memorable, spin to it…
Li-at: As mentioned above, the idea for Meekstagram was the result of a collaborative effort between Meek Mill and Conduit; it really is our joint creative baby.
You can download the official Meek Mill app for iOS and Android here.
Kira is an old school music nerd with a love for all things creative; always searching for music’s common ground. She graduated with an M.A. in Performing Arts Administration from New York University. Drop her a tweet @shadowmelody1
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