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The iConcertCal app gets you to the show


iConcertCal is a new app for the iPhone that lets you track where and when all your favorite musicians are performing. Using some of the new features in the APIs of iPhone OS 3.0, it reads all the artists in the iTunes library of your iPhone, uses the built in GPS to find your location and then displays results dependent upon how far you are willing to travel.

A while back we reviewed the non-iPhone version of iConcertCal which, acting as an iTunes visualizer, created an iCal calendar of the artists in your library while creating a separate calendar appearing when the visualizer is launched. This new app takes that technology and brings it to a new level.

After setting a location either through "use my location", or choosing from a number of pre-set cities, and setting how many miles should be searched, finding a concert is a snap and can be done a number of ways.

Choosing "My Shows" displays a day-by-day list of all matches found in your iTunes library. Choosing "All Shows" brings up a list of all concerts in your specified area, and tapping on "Venue" lists all music venues in your area along with how many shows are scheduled. Tapping on a venue, affords you a list of all of those concerts.

When you find something you like, you have the option of buying tickets, which takes you to the authorized ticket seller site, emailing the information, bringing up a map to get you to the hall or getting transferred to the iTunes store to buy some of the artist's music.

This alone is cool enough, but the best trick isn't immediately apparent. What happens if you have many songs on your computer that aren't on your iPhone? Or what happens if your largest iTunes library lives on another computer? They've got you covered.

By going to their site on the computer containing your largest library, and setting up an account, all artists on that computer will be indexed. Next go to the app and use the same settings. Automatically all the artists on the computer will be transferred to the iPhone app whether or not the artists are on the iPhone, and that information will be used by the iConcertCal app.

With over 60 gigs of music on my MacBook Pro and deciding to have my iPhone 3GS sync to my MacBook holding around 10 gigs of music, I authenticated my MacBook Pro and now the iConcertCal app shows me all the artists my the 60 gig library. Sweet!

Take a look at the gallery of screenshots and see if you can figure out which band I'm seeing four times this week from seat DD 6.



iConcertCal is a new app for the iPhone that lets you track where and when all your favorite musicians are performing. Using some of the...
 

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Chris

jordan doesn't quite get it. try tracking over a hundred artist manually that you'd like to see live. explain to me how that's the best use of your time when it can be automated and not be intrusive.

August 03 2009 at 3:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kaslings

iConcertCal on iTUnes is awesome. I've gone to a lot of concerts I just didn't know about because of it. It also has album release dates. very cool.

July 31 2009 at 1:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
David Winograd

"After setting a location either through "use my location", or choosing from a number of pre-set cities, and setting how many miles should be searched, finding a concert is a snap and can be done a number of ways. "

Does that make it less useless?

July 31 2009 at 1:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Peter Griffin

Pointless. iConcertCal for iTunes is better because you probably have more Artists on you computer than your iPhone so the listings are better. Plus it syncs with iCal, which happes to sync with your iPhone!!

July 31 2009 at 10:03 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Peter Griffin's comment
David Winograd

"This alone is cool enough, but the best trick isn't immediately apparent. What happens if you have many songs on your computer that aren't on your iPhone? Or what happens if your largest iTunes library lives on another computer? They've got you covered.

By going to their site on the computer containing your largest library, and setting up an account, all artists on that computer will be indexed. Next go to the app and use the same settings. Automatically all the artists on the computer will be transferred to the iPhone app whether or not the artists are on the iPhone, and that information will be used by the iConcertCal app.

With over 60 gigs of music on my MacBook Pro and deciding to have my iPhone 3GS sync to my MacBook holding around 10 gigs of music, I authenticated my MacBook Pro and now the iConcertCal app shows me all the artists my the 60 gig library. Sweet!"

Does this help you out?


July 31 2009 at 1:25 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Peter Griffin

Even so, 3 dollars to do something you can do for free and, best yet, it uses the Cal app already on the iPhone (which looks nicer than the black & blue screen they use)

I Love iConcertCal. I see at least 1 concert a week, on average, on the iTunes plugin synced with iCal helps me make sure I never miss a beat (get it??)

July 31 2009 at 2:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
roberts.austin

Arlo Guthrie is still touring? Neat!

July 31 2009 at 1:47 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to roberts.austin's comment
David Winograd

And for free no less.
I didn't see that advertised anywhere.

July 31 2009 at 1:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tuaw

Personally I just take my last.fm recommendations ical export link and add it as a subscribed calendar.

Job done.

July 30 2009 at 5:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

http://www.sonicliving.com is free

July 30 2009 at 4:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Chris's comment
David Winograd

The desktop visualizer is free as well. The idea is not to have to lug your computer around.

July 30 2009 at 4:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

you can connect last.fm, pandora and lala.com to your account at sonicliving.com. coming from someone who has used most of these tools from pollstar (terrible) to iLike to iConcertCal... Sonicliving seems to be the most thorough and announces shows long before most others.

July 30 2009 at 5:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
nate fanaro

The calendar that's being shown is duplicating the functionality of the iPhone. Pull the app!

July 30 2009 at 4:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to nate fanaro's comment
David Winograd

Funny!

Someone has been paying attention.

July 31 2009 at 1:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Duane

Uh oh! Duplicate functionality! Better kill it, Apple!

July 30 2009 at 4:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bryan

sounds like it could be cool. but i listen to NO mainstream music, so, do i dare waste $3 on an app that won't show anything for the bands that i listen to? or does it have ALL music

July 30 2009 at 4:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
4 replies to Bryan's comment
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