Presidents Of The USA Release iPhone Application
February 23, 2009
Recently reported by Wired, The Presidents of the United States of America (PUSA) have released an iPhone application that allows users to instantly stream all of their albums for only $2.99.
Just to make sure we are all on the same page, we are talking about the Seattle based '90s alternative rock band, not the actual president.
The band's former guitarist and vocalist, Dave Dederer, is now a vice president of business development for Melodeo which makes on-demand audio and video programs for various platforms.
The company now offers an application that is fully dedicated to the band PUSA. The application allows users to stream every album PUSA has to offer, even the unreleased first album. Since it is streaming music users are required to have some sort of wireless connection. The application includes links to the band's songs as well so users can purchase them from the iTunes Store.
It is an interesting concept to say the least. Fans could spend over $50 purchasing all of the music that is available through this application for only $2.99. The downside is that the music is streaming, so the quality can be quite poor and users can't actually pick the songs they want to listen to. A playlist must be selected, like a streaming PUSA radio.
It's also not overly practical considering most bands and labels don't own full rights to their music:
"If all the rights to the masters and the publishing are contained -- if the artist has control of them or the label has control of them," said Dederer, "they can sell music in this entirely new format. The first one we're doing is for my band, The Presidents..."Issues aside, if you are a big PUSA fan this may be a good way to get your "Lump" fix for cheap. It will be interesting to see if other bands or companies attempt this new way of marketing and distributing music.