Music 3.0.2

I did a post less than a month ago about how I discovered new music from an app on my iPod. At the end of the article, I mentioned that it wouldn't surprise if an artist released an exclusive app for their fans. Well, it didn't take long, but industrial artist Trent Reznor has released his own version of the application I was talking about. The application allows fans of Nine Inch Nails to enjoy tracks from their recent albums, such as The Slip and Ghosts I-IV (available for download here). This isn’t exactly what I wanted, and it kinda ticks me off, especially with Trent Reznor’s history of industry crushing ideals. The app costs…. quite a bit compared to similar apps… about $5.00. Furthermore, this isn’t really geared towards furthering the band at all, though reviews on the app store show that some people are now interested in NIN’s music. When I wrote the previous post, I had a vision of some forward thinking (most likely indie) artist releasing an app that would offer news, samples, updates, posts from the artist, video links, etc. If you haven’t messed around with an iPod touch or iPhone, the technology makes it incredibly simple to stay updated through the 3rd party applications. I believe that such an extension would reach fans, make new fans, and make a worthwhile statement. But I do have to give credit to whoever is behind Tap Tap for allowing artists a way to promote and release their stuff. Each week there is some new song or contest that has to be sponsered by the artists. Last week, Kaiser Chiefs had a contest through Tap Tap that anyone who reached over a certain score on their new song would be entered to win signed merch. That is definitely something new and forward, but I am still holding out hope for an artist exclusive application.