"My, my, hey, hey, it's time MP3's went away." That's the song being sung by Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Neil Young who believes the iPod may have changed the music business, but not for the better when it comes to the reproduction of sound. That's why he is debuting his PonoMusic service through a Kickstarter campaign on March 12. Also making its debut will be Mr. Young's PonoPlayer (sugg. retail $399), which will be offered at a discount through Kickstarter.
"We want to move digital music into the 21st century and PonoMusic does that," said Mr. Young in a statement. "We couldn't be more excited — not for ourselves, but for those that are moved by what music means in their lives."
The idea behind the PonoMusic service player and service is to give consumers access to the quality of sound they would get playing a vinyl record but in a digital download format.
Mr. Young, as reported by Rolling Stone magazine, has said in the past that he thinks Steve Jobs would have done something similar had he not died. The two met on the idea of a higher quality service before Mr. Jobs passed away.
"Steve Jobs [was] a pioneer of digital music, and his legacy is tremendous," Mr. Young said. "But when he went home, he listened to vinyl. And you've got to believe that if he'd lived long enough, he would have done what I'm trying to do."
The PonoPlayer has 128GB of memory and can store up to "500 high-resolution digital-music albums." Memory cards can be used to store and play playlists.