Droid Apps for working musicians

Recently, I switched from T-Mobile (whom I had been with for about six years) to Verizon. When I changed, I knew I wanted to go with an open platform phone (I had been a loyal BlackBerry user up to this point) but would rather have my finger nails ripped from my fingers than have AT&T (thus the ruling out of the iPhone). So, I went with the Motorola Droid and I haven’t looked back since.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Obviously, the App selection is awesome. There REALLY is an App for everything. Yes, there are ones for leveling pictures and scanning barcodes or a compass or dinner reservations, etc, but there are several that are wonderful for the gigging musician who needs to keep track of expenses, income and mileage. So, I’m going to cover a couple that I use for business and convenience.

The first one, EasyMoney, I use for all my transactions- both income and expenditures. You can create and edit categories, make notes, attach pictures, set repeats, and even set the status of the payment/debit. It keeps track of all the transactions and gives a running total that you can view by balance chart, monthly expenses, monthly income and monthly cash flow. EasyMoney starts off with a 30 day free trial; after that, $9.99 will get you export and backup capabilities. I’ve tried a few but this is my favorite and definitely worth the investment.

**tip: if you have the barcode scanner App, you can scan the block at the bottom of the Handy-app page, press “Open Browser” and your Droid will find it in the marketplace**

Mileage is another concern for anyone in their own business and it can really add up. For this, I use Mileage Ledger. It’s a little pricy (in my humble opinion) at $8.95/year but it’s much easier to use and keep up with than a paper ledger. There isn’t a server so privacy is not an issue and it DOES meet IRS standards. It uses your GPS to track your route and

Image via Wikipedia

calculates your ending odometer reading (you input the beginning number). I really like this app because you pull it up and hit “Start.” You can save the details right then or wait until later.  You don’t even have to calculate round trip or anything because you can resume the trip whenever.  The user can change settings to help the battery life and GPS accuracy.

**tip: When used for business, both of these apps are business expenses and can be deducted from you taxes**

With great apps like the Mileage Ledger and Google Navigation as well as the great voice activation features, an accessory that you HAVE to have is the car mount. Trust me, $30 VERY well spent! Plus, it’s great for using the Droid music player (I don’t even carry my iPod anymore) or streaming Last.fm in the car because you don’t have to take your eyes off the road to change a tune!

Keeping really tight records is the best way to keep your taxes from killing you. Every musician that makes money playing is considered a professional in the eyes of the IRS so it is important to be able to back up your claims. Whatever smart phone or network you use, there are apps for making life easier and I encourage you to find the best ones for you!