MUMBAI: Universal Music Group (UMG) and Tapulous have entered into an agreement to build new music games for the iPhone and iPod touch. The first game, a special edition of Tap Tap Revenge with pop sensation Lady Gaga, goes live today for $4.99 in the Apple App Store.
"With the new Tap Tap Revenge, you can listen to me, Lady Gaga, play the latest in iPhone games, and watch a series of graphics that represent my journey through ‘The Fame.’ It’s perfect for my super, super fans, or for growing ‘The Fame’ lovers, who can listen to my album while tapping along with Love, Art and Technology," said Lady Gaga.
Tapulous is a Palo Alto-based startup that has emerged as one of the leading application developers within Apple’s App Store. Its flagship music game, Tap Tap Revenge, has seen more than 11 million installs.
"We are delighted to partner with Tapulous, whose products strengthen the connection between artists and fans. This is just another example of how UMG is continuing to cultivate online entertainment by offering our consumers even more ways to enjoy the musical experience," said Universal Music Group’s eLabs executive vice president of business development and business affairs David Ring.
"The ability to offer great music and partner with superstar artists is critical to our ability to delight our users and maintain our position as the leader in music games and iPhone apps. As the world’s leading music company, UMG has a fantastic roster of artists, and the company has been very aggressive in exploring the new possibilities offered by the iPhone, so this marks an important milestone for our company," added Tapulous CEO Bart Decrem.
Under this new agreement, UMG and Tapulous will launch a series of initiatives, including: A variety of music-oriented games featuring UMG artists in 2009; The ability for users to purchase top hits from UMG artists to play in the upcoming Tap Tap Revenge 3.0 game. Tracks will be available for purchase for $.50 per track, marking one of the first examples of in-app commerce in an iPhone game and at least one brand new rhythm game with a top performing artist from UMG in the Fall of 2009, with the two companies working together on additional games.
