Verizon Pearl Jam Ringtone Rollout Begins
The ever astute Dennis posted the link to this on the Bugs mailing list yesterday, but here’s a complete write-up from Rolling Stone.com on the Pearl Jam Backspacer Verizon ringtone song-snippet rollout:
Pearl Jam Offer Up “Backspacer” Snippets With Verizon Ringtones
8/7/09, 9:20 am EST
Pearl Jam gave fans a small preview of Backspacer track “Amongst the Waves” with a 10-second, Verizon-only ringtone that was released yesterday. According to Fierce Wireless, in the weeks leading up to the release of Backspacer, the band will release ringtones for every track on the album up until September 17th.
First single “The Fixer” and “Got Some,” the song the band debuted on The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien, were the first ringtones released at the onset of the promotion, with “Amongst the Waves” joining the pair yesterday. (Listen to the 10-second snippet here.)
Next Thursday, August 13th, the band will offer up 10 seconds of “Just Breathe” to their fans with Verizon phones, followed by album opener “Gonna See My Friends” on August 20th. The ringtone promotion isn’t the first time Pearl Jam has linked up with Verizon: Last year, in coordination with the Pearl Jam’s “bootleg club,” Verizon offered up free downloads and streaming tracks from the Seattle quintet’s 12-date North American tour. Verizon and Pearl Jam also joined forces for a “10 Weeks of Ten“ promotion in January ‘09 when the band’s debut album was reissued. For Backspacer, Pearl Jam also agreed to a deal with Target to make the chain the lone big-box retailer that can offer up the band’s new album.
In addition to “The Fixer” and the live rendition of “Got Some,” fans have also heard a demo version of new track “Speed of Sound” after successfully completing the Backspacer album art scavenger hunt, Rock Daily reported last week. Pearl Jam’s new LP is due September 20th. Eddie Vedder and the entire PJ gang will take stage tomorrow, August 8th, at Calgary, Alberta’s V Festival, so fans can probably expect to hear some new songs live as the band kicks off their 2009 tour.
Honestly, listening to those short snippets of 10-seconds each is really not a good experience for me. The quality is poor, it doesn’t give you enough time to get in touch with the song…
I know, it really changes the philosophy around spoilers. i’m not dumb to know the days of bringing an LP/CD home and absorbing it on a home stereo are over, but do i really want to hear the first impressions of an album through my phone while i’m on the bus? Jury’s out.
Yeah. I listened to it and it’s kinda painful to just hear ten seconds.
Kinda a tease… I do think it’s gonna be a great song