As told by the people making and commissioning them.
It's safe to say that the music industry is excited about mobile apps - on iPhone but increasingly Android and other smartphones too.
At this year's MidemNet conference, they were a regular topic of conversation, and got their own dedicated panel session. The key message: apps are exciting, but making them successful isn't easy.
"Great apps are like babies: very easy to conceive, but very hard to deliver," said Ted Mico of label Interscope Geffen A&M.
"The content has to be immediate and authentic, not some canned EPK [Electronic Press Kit] content – if you’re not prepared to do the work, you’re not going to get the results."
Interscope is investing heavily in iPhone apps, including an upcoming one for Dr Dre that will include augmented reality and song-remixing elements.
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It's also working with Tapulous, the developer of iPhone game Tap Tap Revenge, on a new game called Riddim Ribbon which will feature the music of the Black Eyed Peas.
Tapulous' Tim O'Brien was on the same panel session at MidemNet, and reported that the Tap Tap Revenge games have now been downloaded more than 25 million times.
He said that the company is set to spread its wings beyond iPhone this year. "To date we haven’t been motivated to move to another platform, but in 2010 we’re definitely looking to port."
Also on the panel was Michael Schneider, CEO of Mobile Roadie, which provides a platform for artists and labels to create their own iPhone - and soon Android - apps.
He described the process as the "democratisation of apps", and suggested that for artists, it's "less work than having a website" - although he wasn't suggesting that one should replace the other.
Schneider also thought that artists shouldn't be looking to charge fans to download their apps, though.
"I don't know why you would sell an app nowadays, now there's in-app purchases," he said. "There's a lot of ways to monetise and have the base product be free."
