10 Best Music Apps for iPad

When Apple unveiled the App Store in 2009, it opened the floodgates for companies to create innovative mobile extensions of their brands. Apps with digital compasses, transit maps, restaurant guides and games with flying angry animals instantly made our lives more organized, not to mention more fun. Now, with the addition of tablets, the menu of apps is even bigger ... and we're coming hungry. The following is a list of Spinner's picks for the top musical iPad apps out there -- all guaranteed to deliver an awesome aural-neural experience and, well, something to do while you wait for the train.
 
10. D0TS Echoplex
 Nine Inch Nails
 


Recreate Nine Inch Nails' song 'Echoplex' with this amazing visual sequencer, similar to the one used onstage during the band's 'Lights in the Sky' tour. Also enable drums, bass and vocals to re-imagine 'Echoplex' in any way you want.
9. The Little Black Songbook
 Bob Dylan
 
 


This app features more than 60 Bob Dylan cuts, complete with lyrics, chord charts and a chord library. Not only can you learn 'All Along the Watchtower' and 'Blowin' in the Wind,' you can also play along to professionally recorded backing tracks for eight of the included songs.
8. My Pink Friday
 Nicki Minaj
 
Get immersed in the wild, weird and whimsical world of Nicki Minaj with this app. Explore the 'Nictionary' and learn the wise vernacular of Minaj while sampling her newest album 'My Pink Friday.'
7. Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
 
Selected by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum curatorial staff as well as a number of rock critics and historians, the 600 songs on this app are the last century's most influential tracks categorized by artist and decade. If you ever wanted to go to the Rock Hall of Fame, now all you need is an internet connection.
6. Escape to Plastic Beach
Gorillaz
 
Get inside the Gorillaz experience with this interactive 3D game that enables the "tilt" feature on your iPad. Play as Murdoc, flying and gliding above Plastic Beach HQ, fighting ghost boats and avoiding treacherous obstacles all while listening to the sounds of Damon Albarn and his band of animated friends.
5. Until One
Swedish House Mafia
 
Swedish House Mafia doesn't just make club-bangers. Combining the electronic group's new album and book, 'Until One,' this app sets the bar for iPad-specific music releases. Scan through the band's 'Take One' documentary, tour diary and pristine black-and-white photo gallery.
4. Mix II
Deadmau5
 

Don the giant foam mouse-head yourself and remix 20 of the dubstep producer's hottest tracks, including those off his new album 'For Lack of a Better Name' -- all from your living room. Brimming with effects and gyroscopic tilt control, it makes you feel like you're in the studio with Deadmau5 himself.
3. Decoded
Jay-Z
 

For a cool $9.99, you can own this 36-song set of interactive and annotated song lyrics, including all of Jay-Z's personal stories, 17 never-before-seen video interviews, plus two bonus videos -- 'Rap Is Poetry' and 'The Evolution of My Style.' You can also vote on what Jay-Z song gets 'decoded' next!
2. Hi, How Are You?
Daniel Johnston
 

Based on other-worldly animation of the indie-folk hero, this iPad game is sure to excite the senses. Play as the good-willed Jeremiah who has been turned into a freaky-eyed frog by Satan himself. Listen to several Daniel Johnston tracks while descending into the depths of 3D Hell to help Jeremiah win back the object of his affection.
1. iDaft
Daft Punk
 

Daft Punk continue to rein supreme in the electronic realm. From their dazzling live light displays, being sampled by Kanye West and producing a killer 'Tron Legacy' soundtrack, these funky Frenchmen do it all. Including apps. Theirs allows you to switch between playing the hit songs 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger' and 'Technologic' while using the green soundboard to put your own twist on the Daft Punk originals.

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