iPhone developer Tapulous has seen paid music downloads take off within its Tap Tap Revenge 3 game since it went free just before Christmas, according to CEO Bart Decrem.

“We announced in December that we had sold one million songs in Tap Tap Revenge in the first two months, but then between 20th December and now, we have sold several times over that,” he tells digital marketing blog SandboxFM.

“In three weeks, we sold 100,000 copies of Ke$ha’s Tik Tok alone in Tap Tap Revenge. At a time when a number one hit maybe sells a couple of million copies, to move 100,000 copies through our game shows that in-app commerce is real.”

Tapulous has just launched a new game, Riddim Ribbon, starring the Black Eyed Peas. It also allows in-app paid music downloads, with Tiesto and Benny Benassi already on board.

Meanwhile, Decrem says people need to stop thinking of Apple’s App Store as a catalogue, and see it more as an entertainment destination.

“The closest thing to the App Store in my opinion is YouTube,” he says.

“Every day, millions of people go to YouTube and the App Store to see what’s new. They’re basically checking stuff out. Most of it they will ignore, some they will tell friends about, and some they will play. To do in-app commerce, you have to rise above that first ‘try things out’ level.”

Source: Mobile Entertainment News