Bands Bypass iTunes With iPhone Apps

iminplaya writes to tell us that the band "The Presidents of the United States of America" (yes, the peaches guys), are trying to expand their engagement with fans by selling their music via Apple's App store, something others have experimented with but never dealt with on this level. "The app, called 'The Presidents' Music — PUSA,' sells for $2.99 on the App Store (iTunes link) offers users access to four full albums, including the band's early 'lost' recordings. This includes the previously-unavailable FroggyStyle — 'unless you have one of the 500 cassettes the band sold in 1994, you've never heard this before,' reads the app description. The app also features a number of extras and exclusives that the band says are updated regularly, and fans can read the band's blog directly from the app on their iPhones or iPod touches. The music, however, is not actually contained within the application itself; instead, it is streamed to the app from a server, requiring the user to be connected to a network of some kind (iPhone users on the cell or WiFi network, iPod touch users on WiFi) in order to access the media."

Why stop there?

[spartacus_prime]

More bands should be offering their music for free on the Internet itself. Look at how well Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead (for starters) have done with their Internet releases.

Re:Sounds fair

[MichaelSmith]

I don't think Apple will be concerned unless the app allows you to save the music.

Personally I don't think it is any of their business. Linux Torvalds doesn't seem to care what I do with his kernel.

"We Don't Want Poor Fans"

[Wandering Wombat]

I love PUSA. Love them. I have their Mount Rushmore concert taped from MTV on VHS, complete with the Mount Rushmore Hug Of The Day, and I still have dreams set to "Mach 5". However, I do not, and WILL not, own an iPhone, so I guess I don't get access to this sort of thing. This is a confusing message I'm being sent. Only people with iPhones can get this music, and people with iPhones have enough money to throw around to not need this.