Turn it up: Nokia Music APIs are ready to rock

Using the Nokia Music APIs developers can easily integrate music functionality and content directly into their Windows Phone apps, allowing them to create new and differentiated experiences that also sound totally awesome.

“The key to the success of Nokia Music has been Mix Radio – hundreds of mixes curated by our experts covering every conceivable musical genre. Plus the ability to create your own mixes based on the artists you love,” says Martin Banham, product owner of Nokia Music for Windows Phone. “We wanted to give third party developers access to Mix Radio in order to enrich their own apps.”

The Nokia Music API’s already let developers integrate a range of features like play mixes and show nearby gigs. And now, Nokia has released two new Music APIs to help developers take their apps to the top of the charts. There is “Get User Play History” which allows developers to access the tracks users’ have played recently; and “Get User Top Artists” which allows developers to access a chart of users’ top artists for the last week.

“Developers can display music content such as charts, search and mixes within their Windows Phone applications, and integrate with the Nokia Music Windows Phone app to allow their users a full listening experience,” says Nathan Cox, senior product manager for Nokia Music APIs.

Since the initial launch of the Nokia Music APIs earlier this year, Nokia has worked on several innovative partnerships with both big brands and independent developers.

Adding Nokia Music to the mix

One striking example is Adidas, who integrated Nokia Music into their miCoach app for Windows Phone, so you can enjoy various music mixes while you work out.

Another cool example comes from Netherlands-based start-up Orange Tribes. They are a part of the AppCampus  accelerator program, and they collaborated with the Nokia Music team on their new app Sleeve (as in, the inside of a record album).

Sleeve uses the Nokia Music API to deliver an amazing experience. The app brings together everything music, including information from your favorite artist or band. You can import information from Facebook or your personal music Library. You can also decide to randomly select artists or bands. All the relevant news from sources like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Soundcloud, Instagram and Music Brainz will display in the app. The team behind Sleeve continues to add new updates every month, and the app is compatible with all Nokia Lumia Windows Phones.

Supporting that independent spirit

Nokia works with independent developers through events and hackathon contests, resulting in some very innovative applications that incorporate Nokia Music features. One example is a name-that-tune style game called In Two by UK-based developer Scott Lovegrove that is off to a great start in the Windows Phone Store.

Documentation and code samples for the Nokia Music APIs are available in the Nokia Lumia Developer’s Library.