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Apple, Bob Dylan, iPad, iPhone, Music

How They Built Bob Dylan The Bootleg Series Companion App

Bob Dylan Bootlegs has an extensive photo library much of it not commonly seen before

The Times…They Are a-Mazin’!

By Stephen Pate – If you bought Bob Dylan Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 (2013) and owned an Apple iPad or iPhone, you could get the free Bootleg Series Companion App.

The app is a multi-media wonderland of pictures, articles, videos and memorabilia related to the each of the songs on CD’s. Being a Dylan fan, collector and writer the Bootleg Companion App was important enough for me to upgrade my iPad, naming it the Bobster.

There was also a Bootleg Companion App update in 2014 for the next in the bootleg series from Bob Dylan – The Basement Tapes Raw: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11.

If you bought or buy the CD, import the songs to iTunes so the iPad/iPhone can see the MP3 files, a requisite for the App to work. Of course, you can always download them directly from the iTunes Store.

RGenerator, the app developer explains how the app came about. From rGenerator – “When we’re not butchering the lyrics of Bob Dylan for a catchy headline, relentlessGENERATOR is helping reinvent the very idea of the album release.

And you can probably guess which tremendous singer-songwriter we started with.

We had a task: In the words of our client at Columbia Records, “Add new dimension to a familiar icon by creating an innovative digital experience that engages fans of all generations.”

So GENERATOR determined exciting ways to incentivize the purchase of a digital album. It started with the free Bob Dylan Bootleg Series app and, with it, a promise for a new kind of exiting, interactive, hands-on MP3 experience.

The app allows users to unlock a treasure trove of new Dylan-related content and even includes one of his greatest songs. Once you have the album in hand or, rather, in MP3 device, you get some incredible features:

  • Visual timelines by track
  • In-depth biographies
  • Events that impacted Dylan’s music
  • Galleries of rare, unreleased and behind-the-scenes photos
  • Exclusive video interviews

With over 500 pieces of content, including histories and hidden meanings, 36 rare tracks from vol. 10 of Dylan’s Bootleg series, the app provides fans unique insight into the artist and his recording experience.

“Using the latest in media technology, we were able to bring the music and the artist to life in a truly tangible and personal environment.” said Christian Schraga, VP Digital Marketing, Columbia Records. “[The project] was about adding new dimension to a familiar icon by creating innovative digital experiences that engage fans of all generations.”

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1 Comment

  1. Mauro Samuel

    The bootleg 10 App does not work it doesn’t unpack the content using IOS 9.2

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