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On our planet of the apps, it pays to go free.

As of January 2013, there are 775,000 apps in the Apple App Store, with 300,000 native for the iPad and, at the time of writing, the top grossing apps on the UK iPad App Store are:

Candy Crush

Clash of Clans

Hay Day

The Simpsons: Tapped Out

The Hobbit

There are two things that stand out from this list; they are all games and they are all free, which seems an odd way to make money. How do they do it?

Get downloads

As mentioned, there are a lot of apps on the Apple App Store. The reality is people can't afford to download every app available just to test them out. By setting the price tag to free, more people can test the app with no risk.

Possibly the best example of this working is Temple Run. The app was originally set to .99¢ and garnered 400,000 downloads before interest started to dwindle. The company then made the decision to make the app free with in-app purchases, and saw downloads rise to over 46 million.

In-app purchases

It is easy to see why the freemium model, also known as free-to-play, has become the monetization trick of choice. Let's do the maths.

Temple Run was originally 99¢ and received around 400,000 downloads. That's a reasonable return of $396,000 for quite a simple mobile game. However, when the app went free and got the 46million downloads, the company predicted that 1-3% spent money on an in-app purchases.

Two per cent of 46million spending a minimum of 99¢ brings a return of $910,800, which is a 130% increase in profits.

A recent report by app analytic company Distimo reveals that in February this year 71% of money made with apps for the iPhone was through in-app purchases from free apps. 

But it gets beter for all you app making moguls, as the report also reveals that some apps are making a lot more money per download than they would have if they went for the paid revenue model, with some apps reaching as high as $7.04 spend per download.

Free-to-play best practises

But how do you get your audience to spend? Well, there's a fine balance. If you limit the experience so much that they have to spend, chances are they will find something else to fill their time.

By giving users a good experience, allowing them to do enjoy the app without spending any money, a small percentage will spend a lot of money to get even more, and that small percentage can generate a large revenue.

Responsive web design is being hailed as a panacea for communication in the digital age but is it right for you?

The importance of web design is no longer confined to mumbled discussions in the corner of agency meeting rooms, tweets on web developer streams and posts on tech journalists' blogs. Internet usage with mobile technology is booming and the value of having a website that people can use on any of their devices is recognised and commented on widely.

Because of this, responsive web design has become the darling of the digital community, withGoogle saying they think it's pretty sweet too.

A recent study by Adobe of 100 billion visits to over 1,000 websites shows that 15% of all web traffic is coming from mobile, with 8% coming from tablets. That is 15bn visits via mobile devices. And the trend is for those numbers to rise.

At Hoop, we love responsive web design and believe it can help cure those mobile blues. However, there are times when the theory might not fit the practical needs of your website. So, when is responsive the right response?

Know your user

Never assume you know what your users are doing without a bit of research first. Mobile use may not mean mobile users as they are often sprawled across their sofa watching Netflix and tweeting their friends.

Analyse your content

You then need to focus on who you are as a business, what you deliver and what you want in return.

Open up Google analytics and have a look around. Where are people entering your site? Where are they dropping out? What devices are they using to visit? What sites are they coming in from?

Once you have spent time digging through your analytics, you should get a better understanding of how your visitors use your site, what they like and what they don't.

Check the chart

Now you have analysed your content and figured out how your visitors use your website, you can start putting the tasks they want to perform on the desktop site into a list.

With this list, stack them on top of each other and, using the same letter for each task, order the priorities for a mobile device on the right hand side and draw a line to to match the letters ( A to A, B to B and so on). This is a technique first explained by Cennydd.

Image from cennydd.co.uk

If your letters are joining up simply like in the left chart, responsive is the way to go. When your priorities are similar from desktop to mobile, it becomes clear that you can join in on the responsive fun. However, if you have a very muddled-up and confused chart like the one on the right, the best option is a separate mobile site, also known as MDOT.

Conclusion

Chances are, you ended up with a responsive friendly site and that is not a bad thing. The internet should not be separated depending on the choice of your device. Why should someone with a smaller screen only have access to half the content?

Creating content that inspires, informs and entertains helps you make sales without selling.

From start-ups to multinational corporations, businesses are changing the way they communicate with their customers by focusing on content, and the results only support the latest trend.

70% of consumers prefer getting to know a company via articles rather than ads -ContentPlus

Interesting content is a top 3 reason people follow brands on social media - ContentPlus

61% of consumers say they feel better about a company that delivers custom content, they are also more likely to buy from that company - Custom Content Council

What is content marketing?

[Image from ContentPlus]

Content marketing is really quite simple, it's a piece of content - be it words, images, graphics - that adds value to your readership and;

"stops short of a direct sales pitch or call to action, but which seeks to positively influence a customer in some way." - StudioOne

If the content is of high quality, your audience will then share, like and spread your message to their online friends, which is also fantastic for SEO.

Focus on blogging, not flogging

A company blog should be written as if it was for your personal blog.

You have a product section of the website to sell your wares, so leave the blog page as a place for people to learn more about the experience, knowledge and personality of your business.

Add value

In the way we hope you find this of this of value, you should focus on giving something to your readers. This then adds to the longevity and - most importantly - the 'shareability' of your content.

If you run a catering business, share a recipe for an ingredient in season.

If you sell design services, make Photoshop/InDesign guides.

If you are a creative, tell people exactly what inspires you every day.

Just add value.

Show your personality

Old Spice demonstrated a sense of humour and doubled sales, $1 Razors displayed their attitude and people noticed and SB.TV's cool persona made the young YouTube blogger a multimedia mogul. By showing your personality, people can connect with you and your brand on a personal level and will become more loyal to your brand.

Communicate authentically

Authentic communication resonates better with people. It helps build relationships both in our personal and professional lives. Yes, we hear stories about people blagging their way to the top, but as George G. Blaisdell, founder of Zippo, once said;

"Build your product with integrity .... stand behind it 100% and success will follow."

Imagine your online message is a guest at a party - a very, very busy party! Do you want to listen to someone who only talks about themselves, or would you rather have a conversation with the guest that has something interesting to say and is open to debate?

Enjoy it!

Yes, the first rule of marketing and PR is to write for your audience. This is important, but we also strongly suggest you write for yourself.

When you are learning, having fun and feeling good whilst writing, it will resonate with your audience.

Enrol people in your messages by giving them the same experience you feel when you think of your business.

If you aren't laughing, learning or pushing yourself with your content marketing, neither will your audience and they will go somewhere they can.

It is nothing new

The most important thing to understand about content marketing is that it is not a new form of marketing that is impossible to grasp.

Michelin did it when they created the Michelin Guides, John Deere's The Furrow magazine andsoap operas created by many soap companies.

There's a lot of talk about 'the internet of things.' But what is it?

27 February 2013 by Russell Weighton, Thom Rogers

Chances are you've started to hear people talking about the internet of things, but what does this ambiguous phrase mean?

Connected devices

The FT explains the internet of things as:

The vision of the internet of things is to attach tiny devices to every single object to make it identifiable by its own unique IP address. These devices can then autonomously communicate with one another.

More simply put, it is where your things (trainers, keys, dog, bath etc) are connected to the internet, allowing them to communicate with your digital devices. 

To get a clearer picture of what it all means, let's look at a couple of the more popular applications.

Nest

Featured before on the Hoop blog is the Nest, a 'smart' thermostat that learns how you use energy. It also connects to the internet, allowing you to control your device remotely using your smartphone.

Withings Wi-Fi body scale

This set of scales from Withings sends data to your online devices, allowing you to monitor your weight and send the information on to your doctor. 

Nike+

Nike have fully embraced the internet of things. Firstly, they had the Nike+iPod, where you placed a small sensor into your Nike+ (this Hoopster would recommend the Flyknits) shoe, which would send data of your run to your iPod or iPhone, allowing you see how far you ran, how fast and how many calories your burnt. As an added feature, this data could also change your music in real time to reflect the speed of your run.

Now, Nike+ has a full range of hardware that links up with your digital devices to track your training, helping you set realistic target goals, share that data with your friends on social media or to your personal trainer/doctor via email.

Combine this with Nike's gamification of the whole process by adding Fuelpoints, and you have a product that really taps into the possibilities of the internet of things.

What it will change?

Everything according to some. The internet of things could change the way we interact with the world.

Before, there was a separation between the physical world of objects and the online world of the internet, which was accessed on our computers and then, later, smartphones and tablets. Now and in the future, we will have the internet connected to everything from front door locks, toasters, fridges and air conditioners.

The issues

While many label the internet of things as the future, some are suggesting it could leave people even more open to attacks from hackers.

Currently, Vint Cerf is demanding for the internet of things to 'be locked down' before the possibility of attack, especially when more advanced systems start becoming connected. The Register explain:

While an internet fridge isn't much of a threat, it and other systems could be hacked, and the results could range from the simply irritating to the catastrophic.

Why we should be excited

However, at Hoop we don't like to be all doom and gloom and believe the inevitable rise of the internet of things will be an exciting time for everyone. 

For businesses, this will allow them to collect huge amounts of big data on how their customers use their products, giving them the information on how to adapt their business with the consumer in mind.

The government has been known to spend too much money on websites that don't work. However, with the introduction of gov.uk, there is now a responsive, content driven portal that focuses on the user's needs.

In 2010, Hoop's very own Director and co-founder Sean O'Halloran was briefly interviewed by the BBC's technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones regarding the government's monumental spend on websites at the time.

In the blog, Sean is quoted saying that the government should "first work out what they want to deliver, then source the technology." It appears as though someone was listening.

[Users should define the complexity of content - image from a11meme.tumblr.com]

Two years later, Business Link and Directgov have been replaced by gov.uk, a 'simpler, clearer, faster' site – even if they do say so themselves.

Here are a few reasons why we think the new gov.uk website is so works so well:

Navigation

Simple navigation is important to any website. If you don't know where to click next to find the information you want, it can be incredibly frustrating and you end up trying to resolve your issue offline.

For the Government, this means people phoning up their call centres. The information may be on the site, but if people can't find it easily, it might as well not be there at all.

[The eye instantly lands on a list of most important pages on the site]

With gov.uk, the important links are staring you right in the face. There are no images of happy people smiling because of their amazing council. It is just information, and that's all people want.

Responsive design

The other big story for us recently has been the launch of the new iPad and iPad mini. What has this got to do with the new government website? Different screen sizes.

New digital devices with access to the internet are coming out more frequently and theirs displays all vary. From a huge 50" smart TV to a tiny iPhone 4, it is more important than ever for websites to work across the growing amount of different screen sizes.

[Screenshot of gov.uk when browser window size is reduced]

Gov.uk have decided to make their site responsive, meaning that no matter what screen size people are visiting from, the site will snap to fit. This means that if someone only has access to the site on their phone, they aren't missing anything. Important for an essential website such as gov.uk. - Visit Hoop's responsive design page for more information.

Content

The best thing about the website is its content. Gone are the days of confusing jargon, delivered on long PDFs of information. Now, step-by-step guides help the everyday person to easily understand what they need to do.

[Strict tone of voice guidelines that focuses around the user]

They have even highlighted that they are using "plain and direct language", with focus on being concise. One rule even states that the content should be "serious but not pompous", which is a nice touch.

Conclusion

Rory Cellan-Jones' article on gov.uk ends on a much more positive note, and we agree. The three examples of why we think this website works is the result of Sean's advice noted earlier, put the users first. It is evident that visitors to the site have been thought of thoroughly, making search a key priority and easy, step-by-step guides that everyone can understand.

Interestingly, the team behind the website showed Cellan-Jones their wall of shame, which has the BBC technology journalist's aforementioned blog post on the wall, with Sean's idea. We like to think we had a little helping hand in making gov.uk a much nicer place to visit than any previous government websites.

Brands don't do Twitter cover photo, Facebook shares drop, Stumbleupon inspired by Pinterest design, Facebook gifts come back... which leads shares to rise! It has been an up-and-down week in the world of social.

Monday: Slow start to Twitter's new design

Last week, we reported that Twitter had given users the choice of changing their profile to include a cover photo similar to Facebook's timeline design. However, brands are not embracing the new look.

According to Mashable, as of Monday only eight of the top 100 brands have made the switch - Samsung, SAP, Nike, Nintendo, Ford, Moet & Chandon, Armani and Starbucks. Read more via Mashable.

Tuesday: Facebook shares down again!

It appears that every week since the start of the social media summary we have been reporting the fall in Facebook share prices. What started as an exciting story of Zuckerberg's social network going public has turned into a sad story.

Just look at that graph! While share prices started to rise slowly again, they took a 9% drop last week. Oh dear. Read more via Mashable.

Wednesday: Stumbleupon have a Pinterest makeover

The popularity of Pinterest can largely be put down to its design. In fact, Mashable's Sarah Kessler believes it will change web design "forever". A bold statement but it may not be a terrible prediction. Now, Stumbleupon are the latest website to adopt the Pinterest look.

The referral site has also added a new feature called My StumbleDNA, which breaks down the content you have actively liked into a bar graph, and it looks very nice indeed. Read more via TechCrunch.

Thursday: Facebook brings back gifts...

Gifts wasn't a huge success for Zuckerberg and co - we can barely remember them. In fact, the company decided to drop the feature in 2010 to focus on other, more popular, features.

However, as the social network start looking to generate a revenue to please their shareholders, Facebook will bring them back. Might now be the right time for them? Read more via Mashable.

Friday:... and it's already working!

Yep, that's right... the news that Facebook is re-introducing gifts, giving the company a third business model along with advertising and payment revenue, has made some shareholders very happy as the price of stock shot up by 6%.

#justsayin is one of the most popular hash tags on Twitter. However, if you give it a search now, you may find a lot on Ricky Gervais as the comedian has just launched his new 'spoken Twitter' startup, Just Sayin'.

2. Just Sayin'

If you think of Ricky Gervais, you will probably remember him for The Office, Extras and his record breaking podcasts with Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington. What you might not associate Gervais with is the startup app world. However, the comedian has made the transition with Just Sayin'.

According to Gervais, Just Sayin is "to radio as Twitter is to newsprint", as you can update your status with video, photos text and audio recording, with co-founder David Hayden claiming that the addition of the human voice on social networks is "the next big thing".

Having officially launched yesterday, predicting the traction and usage of Just Sayin' will be difficult until it has been given some time. Although, as the old Bill Gate's article states"content is king", Ricky Gervais is known for constantly delivering great content, which makes visiting the social network a day after launch enjoyable - even if it is only to his profile.

Currently on desktop and iOS devices (Android app expected to arrive later in the year), the app was developed by serial entrepreneur Hayden, with his CloudTalk technology, and Ricky Gervais as partner and Creative Director.

Of course, the app links up all your updated to your Facebook and Twitter to notify your followers of your Just Sayin' activity, but could it be that the CloudTalk CEO and former XFM radio presenter are overestimating the power of voice on the internet? Do you want to have to pause your music to check your updates? It seems only time will tell, and Gervais agrees as he said:

"[Voice communication] will create a different world," Gervais says. "We don't know why it's important yet or even if it is, but it might be."

Once, social media was a tool used to find great content. Now, the networks are full of information and notifications we find ourselves caring less about. Undrip understands its user to deliver content you care about from all your social accounts.

2. Undrip

Some days, going on your social networks can be a chore. Instead of reading, liking and commenting on other people's content, you end up checking to see if you have any notifications, browse a few statuses and leave. Sometimes, it can just be too overwhelming. Maybe it is time to Undrip your social estate.

Founded in September 2011 by Zinch Co-founder Mick Hagen, Undrip filters out all the content on your social networks to only show you the best of who you follow. And when we say all the content, we mean it as Undrip pulls in every social network you have, be it Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Path or another.

Currently on iOS (Android to come soon), Undrip gives users the ability to filter what they want to see, with the choice of 'All Media', 'Articles', 'Images, 'Videos' and 'Websites'. From here, you can do anything you would normally do, 'Like', 'comment', and so on - this is called a Drip.

Of course, when it comes to a free platform that is free from adverts and subscription fees, the question arises of how they will make some hard cash. We can't picture any singular social network buying out the company as it encompasses all of them. However, they do believe that the large amount of data they will receive from users will be worth something one day.

Unlike Flipboard, Undrip doesn't have you say what you like by topic, but by what content you engage with and contribute yourself. Let's face it, sometimes we don't really know what we want to see until we see it.

Curiosity tweets from Mars, no Facebook could mean you're a psychopath, Twitter death rumour causes price rise in oil, Pinterest removes invitations and the official Twitter Olympic stats. It's last week's top stories from social media... and Mars!

Monday: Twitter reaches Mars

On Sunday the 5th August 2012, the NASA Curiosity Rover successfully landed on the surface of Mars and posted the first ever twitpic from the red planet the next day. In traditional social media style, the posts are a lot more fun than many people may view science.

Not only has Curiosity got thousands of physics enthusiasts excited but, thanks to the grainy and mysterious images of a derelict planet, it may have won the hearts of even more Instagram hipsters.

Tuesday: Employers & psychiatrists suggest Facebook avoiders may be psychopaths

A lot of people have that one friend that has yet to sign up to Facebook but what does that say about them? You may think they are lovely, cool and just don't want to be a part of the fuss. However, some psychiatrists believe it may hint to psychopathic traits.

[Image from Fransocialcamp.com]

And that's not all as many employers find it abnormal if any potential employers aren't on the social networking platform. The idea is that because being on Facebook is so normal and a part of a healthy social life and recent Aurora shooter James Holmes did not have a social presence. However, it has also been thought that teenagers using Zuckerberg's website may lead to psychological problems. So who knows!

Wednesday: Oil prices spike because of Twitter death rumour

If the power of Twitter hasn't been demonstrated enough in recent years, the fact that oil prices went up $1 for crude-oil futures because of a hoax tweet should show how influential the micro-blogging site can be.

[Image from Mashable]

An account claiming to represent Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokolstev sent out a series of tweets confirming the death the President on Syria, Bashar Al Assad, his wife and two others. Later the tweets were confirmed to be false after the account admitted the hoax was by Italian journalist Tomasso De Benedetti. However, this could also be a hoax.

Thursday: Pinterest now open to everyone!

Pinterest, the social pinboarding took the UK by storm earlier this year with millions of people signing up. However, it wasn't quite as easy as entering your email address as the social sensation was invite only.

On Thursday, Pinterest opened its doors to everyone. Hopefully this means they have fixed some of those legal issues.

Friday: Bolt wins Twitter gold

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London were not only the greatest games ever, but the most connected and this morning Twitter revealed some interesting stats with the fastest man in the world being the hot topic of the games.

[Image from The Telegraph]

With Digg close to being extinct, a team of developers have worked around the clock to rethink Digg, and the new site - out later this week - looks pretty nice to us.

1. Digg

Two weeks ago, Hoop's social media summary reported that Digg had been bought for a mere $500,000. This was huge news as the site was once worth $175million. There were a few reasons for the sites downfall but a big factor was the awful redesign in 2010 that unintentionally encouraged users to leave to rival sites such as Reddit.

[Image from Rethink Digg]

Started by Kevin Rose in 2004, Digg began life as an experiment to let users discover, share and recommend web content. If you believed something was good, you voted it up the page with a "Digg" and if it wasn't your thing, you could down vote it with a "bury". The idea changed the internet by organising the best content in an easy list.

Now owned by New York's Betaworks, the site has been down for the last six weeks while the team worked non-stop to deliver a brand new version of Digg, which will launch later this week. In fact, the Rethink Digg blog (pointed to us by ex-Hoopster FatKidOnFire) have leaked previews of the new design and it looks like they are fixing the errors made in 2010.

The new look to Digg promises to be a "beautiful, image-friendly and ad-free experience. The most exciting aspect of Digg's redesign is the four goals they are focusing on, which aims to bring the best experience to the user. These four goals are:

We make it easy to find, read, and share the most interesting and talked about stories on the Internet right now.

The experience must be fast and thin. Let users go, and they will come back to you. We optimize for return visits, not pageviews per visit.

Build an experience that is native to each device: smart phone, inbox, Web page. Stories must find the user, wherever they are.

Users must be able to share where they and their friends already are — on networks like Facebook, Twitter and email.

We all want to eat healthier but it can be confusing what to buy, not to mention how expensive it can be. Imagine a site that offers health advice, activity plans and a shopping list with vouchers. You just imagined Zipongo.

2. Zipongo

The Olympics start tomorrow and you may be feeling the need get back in shape. However, organising a well balanced diet can be confusing and cost a lot. This is the problem that ledJason Langheier to start Zipongo, a website dedicated to get you eating healthier, while saving money.

With a team of athletes, doctors and 'foodies' (does this mean amateur chef?), Zipongo aims to give you discounted prices of top healthy food and amazing recipes to keep your plate exciting while low in all the bad stuff.

The site have also added a great feature to keep up the social side of the site as every time you purchase or recommend something to a friend, you get one step closer to having a mega-deal.

Founded in June 2011, Zipongo have just received $1 million in a round of funding, ironically including the computer game developer and co-creator of mega-hit Guitar Hero, Kai Huang - which probably hasn't helped people get into shape.

The core idea of Zipongo is to personalise everyone's diet plan. Unlike many websites that will offer copy and paste information, you will get a plan that will suit you. If you chose to, you can add you medical history to your profile to get specific health instructions.

They also make purchasing using your deals easy. You will receive your activity plan and shopping list will be sent to you via email, social network or through the mobile app. From here, you can then swipe your loyalty card at the checkout to pay less for the items on the list.

The social web has completely changed the way we arrange meeting friends, forever. However, it still isn't quite as enjoyable as it could be. Gather is a tool that can change all that and make meeting up easy, convenient and potentially random, in a nice way.

1. Gather

Organising meet ups has become easier with our smartphones and the social web. In fact, you don't need someone's number to find out where they are; you could just tweet them or have a look at their Foursqaure or Facebook check-ins.

However, this could be quite messy as people could miss your tweets and it may be too late for some friends by the time you check-in. This is where Gather can help. The brand new app - available on iOS [iTunes] and Android [Google Play] - lets you broadcast where you are headed, organising 'micro-meetups' over Facebook and Twitter.

Created by former developers Mikeal Rogers (Yammer, CounchOne, Mozilla) and Max Ogden, the app does not aim to be another social network but a utility tool. This is what sets Gather apart from other social-meetup apps like Forecast (EDIT: Forecast closed down as they were unable to pay the bills) and Holler. Gather is also easy to use, requiring just a start time, location through Foursquare, a name and you are ready to post.

Much of this may seem pointless as these tools are built in to our current social networks but one of Gather's main features is that it sends a push notification to your Facebook and Twitter friends - who also need Gather - within a 50 mile radius.

Video sharing has made little impact beyond YouTube but startup Tout is ready to stun everyone with its social video network, giving the digital sharing world an attitude adjustment.

1. Tout

With the success of YouTube, Instagram and Twitter, combining all three sounds like a guaranteed success. However, even with Viddy's reported 26million plus users, it hasn't become the international sensation it could be.

Now there is a new #1 contender with Tout after a recent round of funding saw an interesting investor in the WWE, who aim to make them the world heavyweight champions of the social video world.

The world's most popular wrestling brand WWE are among the companies to have invested in the company's $13.3million Series B Venture Funding, making the total invested $15.4million.

With Tout, users are able record 15 second video status updates with either their smartphone or webcam and share instantly to Tout's website, Facebook, Twitter, SMS and email contacts. Nothing is sounding too revolutionary but they do have a good reply feature that encourages conversations in the same way Twitter does.

Based in the startup city of San Francisco, Tout's co-founder and CEO Michael Downing is packed with experience in the digital world having co-founded the world's first legal music subscription website Musicbank and GoFish.com, the second largest media network for young people after Nickelodean.

Tout is unique in that it has a built in set of influencers as WWE try and get all their wrestlers to consistently update as well as mentioning the site regularly on their TV show.

Figuring out which product is for you can be a difficult task as hundreds of lists online say different things. However, Find The Best gives you unbiased, data-driven comparisons to help you out.

1. FindTheBest

With the advertising and marketing world flooding the media channels with campaigns. it can be hard to figure out what is the best purchase for you. Even asking friends can be risky as they tend to just push their favourite brand... which may have been influenced by a marketing or advertising campaign. So how do you find the best?

[Image from CrunchBase]

Led by DoubleClick founder Kevin O'Conner, Find The Best is a website that collects unbiased data to give you better information to base a decision on. For example, if you wanted to know what the best smartphone on the market was, Find The Best will lay out all the important information along with reviews to get a 'smart rating' to rank the phones in order. Give it a try, the results may surprise you.

The goal of the company is to display all this information in an easily understandable presentation but also to use the data to improve classified ads. However, there are benefits for bloggers as not only are they easily able to embed the lists, they can get an affiliate fee if people click the buy it now button from from their blog.

Streaming services have changed the way we access music. However, Spotify's integration of apps can make listening sessions more social and one sticks out above the rest. Imagine a digital, interactive, jukebox chatroom... imagine Soundrop.

1. Soundrop

There are many articles online for the Rdio vs Spotify debate, a conversation seemingly alien to UK users as Spotify has become the digital way to stream music, either as a paid subscription or a free, ad-supported service. However, it seems that Spotify currently has two major advantage over its competitors. 1) Its close relationship with Facebook and 2) its app integration.

One that sticks out this week is Soundrop, an app that aims to make social music less about boasting and more about conversing. Rather than integrating Spotify to your Facebook account so people can see what trendy, hipster artist you have listened to, Soundrop is a chatroom where users can add songs in hope of being up-voted to make the playlist. Quite like a jukebox version of Reddit, based on Genre's, artists and decades.

With 7,000 rooms, 60 million songs and 3.3 million listening sessions logged already, some people can't help but notice Soundrop's traction. In fact, earlier this week the Oslo based company received its first investment of $3million, coming from the lead backer of Spotify,Northzone. Not a bad feat for a company who launched at the end of 2011.

Interestingly, the idea isn't actually that new. Not only are Soundrop a direct competitor toTurntable, many digital television shows such as Kerrang!, Heart and Q have for years encouraged viewers to text or call in to determine the next song to be played. Soundrop have taken this and made it up-to-date, easy to use and a lot of fun.