Joe Zeff Design is excited to announce that BAMM.tv, a one-of-a-kind music experience built exclusively for iPad, is available today in the iTunes App Store. The BAMM.tv app is a showcase for emerging bands that goes far beyond traditional music players, allowing users to not only discover new music but also explore a photorealistic venue loaded with activities, prizes and interaction. BAMM.tv — short for Bricks and Mortar Media — has caught fire since its 2010 start, with 12 distribution partnerships reaching 150 countries. The company seeks out up-and-coming independent artists, trading HD video and production expenses for the rights to promote and distribute their content and share in their revenues.
“Independent music is no longer a niche,” Chris Hansen, CEO and co-founder of BAMM.tv, said. “We began the business because of our experiences as musicians who had to deal with an incredibly challenging environment in the music industry. We set out to prove that there’s a better way to do things, that there is a huge opportunity in creating straightforward and transparent agreements with independent artists that bypass the major label system. Our iPad app is BAMM.tv’s introduction to music fans, as well as an expression of our fundamentally different approach to the business of music.”
The project was led by Dr. Mario Garcia and his team at Garcia Media, with collaboration from Joe Zeff Design, Haneke Design and BAMM.tv founders Chris and Nick Hansen. It was built from the ground up using native iOS code to deliver enhanced functionality. Joe Zeff Design provided the initial concept and design direction, and produced many of the graphical elements along with the superbly talented GMD Three.
Dr. Garcia invited us to be part of the team based on our experience producing other storytelling apps. After viewing other music players and finding them to be vanilla and impersonal, we sketched out an experience-based app that placed the user into a gritty environment, interacting with BAMM.tv staff in an alley patterned after their San Francisco headquarters before entering a concert space where music was being performed on a virtual stage. Some of our initial sketches that were presented to Mario and the Hansen brothers:
We enlisted GMD Three, a graffiti-artist-turned-deejay-turned-computer-artist, to photograph and manipulate the key imagery. The team decided early on that the app demanded authenticity in order to connect with young music fans, and nobody could deliver that street cred better than GMD. Admire his work throughout the app, and on his frequently updated blog.
Haneke Design was brought in to bridge the gap between design and programming. They deftly programmed an award system into the BAMM.tv app that rewards users for their inquisitiveness and unlocks protected content as they collect more tokens. We're working with them again on our upcoming The Final Hours of TOMB RAIDER app, and expect many collaborations to come.
The BAMM.tv app is yet another triumph for Dr. Garcia and Garcia Media, coming shortly after the publication of his influential new iBook, "iPad Design Lab." We're extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Mario and his team, in particular Reed Reibstein and Mario Garcia, Jr. Congratulations to BAMM.tv, Garcia Media and everyone involved in the launch of a paradigm-shifting product that raises the bar even higher for storytelling experiences on the iPad.
Watch a video on how to navigate the app here. Mario blogs about the project here. Check out some great screen captures below, and be sure to download the app today.
