• by Steve Smith , Staff Writer @popeyesm, December 7, 2011

As every book publisher and record label knows, the latest and greatest hits may bring in the big profits, but it is that back catalog that keeps the cash flow level and predictable. The age of digital downloads has made all music more easily discoverable, but how does a publisher really use the new media tools best to revive that old catalog?

In what you might call an app-age version of a greatest hits album reissue, Sony music is promoting the legendary guitarist in a new "Jimi Hendrix: The Complete Experience" app for iPhones and iPad. The app release is part of a massive Hendrix campaign that Sony’s catalog division Legacy Recordings initiated more than a year ago. 

This app is especially lush on the iPad, where it feels like an endless LP album cover. You flip through the main Experience section that recounts Hendrix's personal and creative evolution in video, images and a background track of music. A video section has clips from concerts and films. The Venues tab brings up the many venues Hendrix played at on a map interface. A photo gallery is here as well, and of course there are links throughout to music tracks for sale in iTunes.

The app is free, so Sony is monetizing solely through m-commerce. But since the ever-present buy button ties directly to the app, Sony marketers will be able to calculate a precise ROI on this marketing tool. 

This is a unique and interesting way to leverage the app platform for both direct sales and brand management. The neophyte like myself gets an immediate payoff, but the app also features a lot of studio and concert audio that even diehard, “experienced” Hendrix fans will not have heard yet.

I actually was a bit frustrated by the fact that the app doesn’t aggregate the music in one catalog-like place for easier sampling. Instead it plays music randomly in the background  and lets you forward haphazardly through a virtual reel-to-reel tape player in the Music tab.  Performance was jagged on my original iPad model. Also, any app that relies on bouncing you out to the iTunes store so much should behave better as a multitasked app. Switching back into the app sends you back to the splash page.  

Nits aside, "Jimi Hendrix: The Complete Experience" uses the free app model wisely to pique interest in a classic property and perhaps unlock the treasure of a back catalog.