Grammy Awards Get Official iPhone, Android App

It took a while, but it finally seems like every major event production now understands the power of having a custom mobile app. The latest to join the fray is the Recording Academy, the organization dedicated to recognizing outstanding work from the music world.

The app is centered around The Grammys, the organization's annual awards ceremony, which airs next Sunday. It features news updates, music trivia, and exclusive photos and videos. The app also integrates Twitter and offers a "Guess the Winner" polling tool in which music fans can vote on possible Grammy winners as the event happens. Also included in the app is the ability to live stream the music of nominees via Grammy Radio.

The effort was supported in part by CBS Interactive, an arm of the same network scheduled to offer the TV broadcast of the show. Marc DeBevoise, senior vice president at CBS Interactive said, "We're excited to be partnering with The Recording Academy to bring music fans this incredible multi-platform experience. By making this program available in so many ways, we're catering to all music fans, giving them an exclusive virtual ticket to the biggest music event of the year on any device."

Another aspect of the app is a button connecting users to the Grammys' "We Are Music" experience. Created in conjunction with marketing specialists TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles, the "We Are Music" site appears to be the Grammys' fledgling attempt at a kind of social network for music.

Although simple, and frustratingly based on Flash (a favorite among big name ad firms), the site does offer an entertaining diversion in that it allows users to create their own mixes of popular music, or simply listen to the live stream playing on the site. There's no word on whether there are plans to expand on this idea, but the first attempt is attractive.

You can download the Grammy app for iPhone from iTunes and via the Android Market.