Androgynous English rockers Placebo just claimed the honor of landing the first “artist” app on the new Apple TV. The free Placebo app is designed to deliver an “immersive” experience for fans while they remain ensconced on their couches.
Ultimately the app, which was released Monday, lets you watch music videos, live video of the band and “exclusive content” from the Placebo archives, all in your very own home.
Placebo formed in 1994 and has been rocking the androgynous alt-rock scene ever since. They’ve recorded seven studio albums across their 20-year career, which should count for something, right?
“We see this as a unique way of bringing Placebo’s catalogue into the homes of existing and potential fans,” said Anthony Crook, Riverman Management, in a statement.
The Apple TV app will also become a platform for the band to premiere new music, and (importantly) monetize future “visual content” or album releases, especially as the traditional music market continues its long, slow crawl towards irrelevancy.
While I applaud the band and its label for attempting to grab some of the sweet Apple TV app pie to help the 20-year-old band grab some name recognition, they might need to do a bit more than just re-package videos and concert footage for the new Apple TV. Why not add a video game that tasks fans with tapping on the Siri Remote with the beat to Placebo’s songs? Or, even better, add Placebo to games like Guitar Hero Live or Rockband 4 instead of a standalone app for a band that the masses don’t already know of?
Of course, the band and its management want to have control over the content that’s presented, and to monetize off of it. Here’s hoping they can do that in an Apple TV app store that may soon explode with content, making discovery just as hard as it is on the iOS App Store.
“This new technology will present Placebo’s catalogue in an entirely new way, giving the fans something unique in a space controlled by the artist,” said Paul Hitchman, President of Placebo’s label, Kobalt Label Services. “When the release of the new Apple TV was made, and the fact that it would for the first time have an app store, we saw this as an opportunity to be first in this new space.“
Head on over to your new Apple TV and search for Placebo; you should be able to find the app there.
Rob LeFebvre is an Anchorage, Alaska-based writer and editor who has contributed to various tech, gaming and iOS sites, including 148Apps, Creative Screenwriting, Shelf-Awareness, VentureBeat, and Paste Magazine. Feel free to find Rob on Twitter @roblef, and send him a cookie once in a while; he’ll really appreciate it.
3 responses to “Is this the first ‘official band app’ for Apple TV?”
Sorry to break their illusion, but they are not the first artist app. The Irish singer Mary Black had an Apple TV in the App Store on the release date of the new Apple TV in which her fans can watch a lot of her videos. I’m the developer of that app.
Placebo is English? With Brian Molko being born in Belgium to Scottish and American parents, and Stefan Olsdal being Swedish? O_o
I guess a little promotion might have helped then? Not many will read the comments, only the headline.