R.E.M. Launches iPhone/iPod Touch Application

This news post is directed at you, iPhone-carrying-R.E.M. fan. That’s right, if you own an iPhone and you love all things R.E.M., check this out. The band have launched a new iPhone/iPod Touch application that’s available free of charge.

The iPhone App allows fans instant access to R.E.M. music and online content direct from the band’s headquarters in Athens, GA.

I don’t presently have an iPhone, but were I to procure one I would definitely be into an App like this. In fact, I hope other artists follow suit, because this type of digital element could get interesting where accessing content, really good content, is concerned.

The R.E.M. App features the latest R.E.M. news and tour dates, which are updated instantly, 30-second song clips from the band’s complete catalog, a photo gallery that spans the band’s entire career, full-length videos from every R.E.M. album, and a guide to selected sights in the band’s hometown of Athens, GA, complete with built-in Google Maps locations.

There are hundreds and hundreds of cool and/or useful Apps in the iTunes App store and this deal from R.E.M. is what’s now going to drive me straight into the arms of my local Apple store. I need the iPhone.

With this R.E.M. App users will also be able to upload their own live R.E.M. photos directly from the phone to Flickr, watch fan YouTube videos from any date on the band’s 2008 world tour, purchase R.E.M. songs from iTunes (of course!), and purchase all sorts of merchandise from the R.E.M. store. Memo to Neko Case: Have one of these Apps by tomorrow, thank you.

Another cool extra is the R.E.M. & You feature: Listen to a specific R.E.M. song and upload a photo of yourself listening to it at that very moment, then check out photos other fans listening to R.E.M. songs. The R.E.M. App is free, so not sure why an R.E.M fan with an iPhone wouldn’t want this – now!

Aside from all this digital awesomeness, R.E.M. also released some music recently. Back in October the band shipped a double live CD/DVD entitled R.E.M. Live At The Olympia, which features 39 songs that capture the best moments from the band’s “working rehearsals” at Dublin’s fabled Olympia club. The band tested out new songs for R.E.M.’s 2008 studio album Accelerate and re-worked some of their old-school tunes.