Paul McCartney to Jay-Z: Musicians go tech-savvy

Apple takes cue from generations of musicians who collaborated with tech companies resulting in successful partnership of business and music. Here is a list from the past including U2's latest tie-up with Apple:

U2 and Apple



While some ridiculed U2 for releasing their album in a way that effectively forces its way into the devices of Apple consumers, the band is having the last laugh. The release of Songs of Innocence on iTunes, a month ahead of its worldwide release, has fans buying other U2 titles on iTunes.



Jay-Z and Samsung ​




In 2013, Jay Z made a $ 5 million deal with Samsung for his Magna Carta App that allowed users to access his new album Magna Carta Holy Grail for free, five days before its actual date of release.



Lady Gaga and Amazon ​



She put her album Born This Way (2011) on sale for two days on the e-commerce site for just 99 cents and sold 1.1 million copies in its debut week. Gaga also released her last album Artpop as an app

Paul McCartney and Apple

The former Beatle released five of his classic LPs as iPad apps, which are available on Apple’s App Store as well from July 2014. The songs come packaged with interviews, videos, photos and remastered audio.



Björk and Apple

In 2011, Björk released her project Biophilia with an iPad app for each of the ten songs from the album. Björk hailed the project as a multimedia collection “encompassing music, apps, Internet, installations, and live shows”.


Imogen Heap and Run-time

Heap, a dedicated runner, recorded her single ‘Run-Time’ using the app she developed with Intel and RjDj. The Run-Time app creates a unique soundtrack using the ambient sound (breathing/traffic or other sounds)and overlaying that onto an existing electronic rocktrack.