Music games on iPhone big break for artists

A start-up company called Tapulous has turned a simple game for the iPhone into an Internet-age mobile stage for musicians.

Tap Tap Revenge, a free game that challenges players to keep up with catchy tunes by tapping in the right spots on the phones screen, was available in Apple's iPhone application store when it opened in July.

It quickly climbed the stores charts, and more than three million downloads later, Apple declared it the most popular free iPhone game of the year.

"We went to number one in three days," said Bart Decrem, co-founder and chief executive of Tapulous.

Within a week, artists reached out to have their music featured in the game.

Many software companies have jumped onto the iPhone bandwagon, seeing promise in the popularity of the phone and the demand for programmes for sale or free download through the App Store.

They include Smule, a start-up that created a program that turns iPhones into flutes; and giant game publishers like Electronic Arts, which recently released a version of its classic SimCity game for the iPhone.

Tapulous, based in Palo Alto, California, was founded in January after Decrem, a Belgian software executive, and his business partner, Andrew Lacy, came across an iPhone game called Tap Tap Revolution.

They sought out its creator, Nate True, and brought him on board as a developer.

For Decrem, who earlier helped create a social web browser called Flock, the low cost and fast pace of making software for the iPhone made it feasible to create a company that focused exclusively on the device.

It took two years to bring Flock to market, he said. "In this case, the longest you spend building an iPhone application is three months, and it takes four or five people. There's less risk in terms of betting millions and years on something that might not work."

Tap Tap Revenge is patterned after games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band, which test players' abilities to keep rhythm with popular songs.

Those games have been hits on consoles like the Xbox 360, and strong sales of music through games have given some hope to a beleaguered music industry.

The British music label EMI, seeking a new source of revenue, collaborated with Tapulous on a version called Tap Tap Dance that includes tracks by Moby and Daft Punk.

"We absolutely feel these games could be the next big Rock Band or Guitar Hero," said Cynthia Sexton, a vice president at EMI Music worldwide. Decrem said,"We're fortunate to be sitting at the intersection of a couple of powerful forces right now," he said. "The iPhone is a device that is on fire, and artists are looking for ways to reinvent themselves." The New York Times