This month, Atlanta-based company Fried Green Apps announced a partnership with Taylor Swift through the creation of Mix Me In2 Taylor Swift, an iPhone app that lets the user take a turn as music producer.
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MMI2 comes with two of Swift’s songs, “You Belong with Me” and “Love Story.” Each tune has five new versions created specifically for the app, including a “coffee house mix,” an “urban mix,” and a “piano mix.”
With a few taps, the user can decide which instruments Swift’s band should play or not play, and even how loud the track should be. “You Belong with Me,” for example, which usually sits between pop and twang, can lose all of the aforementioned, in favor of keyboards and more rock-edged guitar. Essentially, it’s a matter of mixing and matching until something gels.
Beyond working with the included tracks, Mix Me In2 lets the user record vocal or instrumental parts and add them into the mix. In other words, Swift doesn’t have to sing at all. The avatars groove along benignly on stage waiting whatever changes come about.
When a song has been remixed to satisfaction, it can be shared through Swift’s community website, which has a section that houses finished mixes for other users to listen, rate, and pass along via Twitter or Facebook.
Though the app only comes with two songs, others like “Our Song” and “Fifteen” are available to buy through iTunes for $1.99 each, potentially keeping the revenue stream open after the initial purchase.
Says Swift: “I love playing music, and I love creating music. And, as somebody who is also a big music fan, I always love finding acoustic versions of my favorite songs. I think Mix Me In2 will be a great way for fans to have fun interacting with my music and to listen to new versions of my songs!”
Though not yet released, Fried Green Apps says that other artists like Plain White Ts and Breaking Benjamin have signed on for the creation of their own versions of Mix Me In2.
