The soul singer's new app is an intriguing example of gamification applied to music, scoring fans who show her 'love'
Swing a cat at a tech conference, and you'll hit six gamification gurus. Some are brilliant, with thrilling ideas about how to apply game mechanics to a host of other areas. Others just know a good bandwagon when they see one, but are barren beyond the buzzwords.
The gurus are having an impact, though. Soul singer Erykah Badu's new iPhone app is an intriguing example of gamification applied to music. It has the standard artist app features like news, tweets and videos, but it also has its own "LoveMeter" scoring system to rank and reward Badu's fans.
The LoveMeter "tracks how much love you give to Erykah Badu", and is filled by sharing content with friends, buying her music and checking in at gigs, Foursquare-style.
The rewards? Voice messages from Badu herself, which will apparently get "more personal" the higher a fan's "LoveScore" is. They can also send their own voice messages back, which ? so the App Store listing assures them ? are more likely to be heard by Erykah if they come from a high-LoveScore fan.
"You get love by giving love," explains the listing. Although if you want to look at this in more commercial terms, you get love by buying, consuming and becoming a link in a viral marketing chain. But "love" is the shorthand used here.
Startup Fantrail has launched the app for Badu, and is currently trying to sign SXSW bands up for a free trial to get more artists on its roster.
Badu is not the first music artist to get gamified in an app. Australian pop-punk band Short Stack have an app that rewards fans for checking in at their gigs and public appearances, while US rapper Soulja Boy has one called SouljaWorld that awards virtual tattoos for fan activity.
Gamification can be powerful when applied to the artist/fan relationship ? it helps managers and labels identify the keenest and potentially most influential fans, for example.
It only works if the rewards are worthwhile, though. If Badu's most fervent fans feel palmed off with generic platitudes from the star, her own voice message inbox may be less appreciative than she is hoping for. However, with Badu already one of the more active and engaging musicians on Twitter, hopefully that won't be the case.
Sienna Miller Cindy Taylor Halle Berry Catherine Bell Tessie Santiago
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