Thesixtyone Brings Music To The Ipad With Aweditorium

We loved Thesixtyone’s take on web-based streaming music, and we really love what the company is doing with its new iPad app. Mashable (Mashable) recently highlighted this music startup’s newly redesigned website as one of the best web designs of 2010. Its full-screen, lean-back/lean-in user experience leaves little to be desired and is an immersive way to listen to great music from independent artists. Similarly, the company’s iPad app, called Aweditorium brings high-quality multimedia and unique content for a stand-out experience that’s already getting rave reviews. Through the app, you can view beautiful photography, read lyrics, explore related artists, watch interviews, view high-definition music videos and a whole lot more. Thesixtyone (thesixtyone) co-founder James Miao told us in an e-mail that ever since the creation of album art as we know it in 1939, the record industry has “captured people’s emotions and imaginations through inspiring, tactile experiences. “Of course, all this cultural texture was lost in translation when music went digital. Today, it’s a third wheel, low-fi, and exiled to Adobe PDF. Digital music interfaces look like Excel spreadsheets — what kind of backwards society do we live in where we’re limiting the genius of a Thom Yorke or Trent Reznor to a single vertical column? “And then Apple released the iPad and I told my partner, Sam Hsiung, ‘We’re going to change all of this.’ ” That ambition is reflected in the app’s name — the desire to bring the awe and majesty of album art back to music. Competitors in the very exciting “music-related iPad app” category include the already successful Pandora iPad app and MySpace’s Romeo iPad app. Both of those experiences offer something slightly different to their users, but neither app has the multimedia richness of Aweditorium. Another thing that distinguishes Aweditorium from other music apps for iPad is its focus on independent artists; currently, Thesixtyone works almost entirely with indie artists, although some majors are playing around with the platform, as well. The app is free and available now in the App Store (App Store). If you’re an iPad user, check it out and let us know what you think.