SPOTLIGHTm

P!nk’s Funhouse on iPhone

What is it?

Called a “branded application,” Sony BMG artist Pink’s (P!nk?) iPhone application is a purely promotional product for her album entitled “Funhouse,” which (likely not coincidentally) is featured on the iTunes music store this week.

How much does it cost?

Free.

Who is it good for?

Pink fans and Pink fans only.

Summary

Pink’s promotional iPhone application is made for solely that - promotion. While there are some neat little tricks with the application, it is essentially similar to a movie promotional page on MySpace. You’ll get some music clips, a few pictures, some random news, but nothing that you couldn’t find elsewhere. However, probably the coolest part of the application is the ability to preview 30 second music clips and buy them directly from iTunes (if you have access to Wi-Fi). Like MTV’s “Making the Band,” this is essentially a commercial to try and get you to buy some music.

Keep it or Delete it?

Delete it.

For even the biggest Pink fans, the iPhone application will only provide so much fun. With twelve :30 second clips and a handful of pictures that you can flip through in less than a minute, we think that the 15 minutes we spent with the application are enough to explore most everything it has to offer before deleting it.

So yes, you’ll be able to get some news, Pink’s discography, bio and a little bit more, but beyond that, there’s not a whole lot to offer. One of the most important things about forcing fans to download something has to be value or some sort and aside from the music clips, we don’t really see a whole lot of it.

Where are the exclusive Pink interviews? The iPhone specific blogs by the R&B songstress turned pop rocker? The concert dates? The ability for me to find other P!nk fans in my area?

Oh that’s right, none of it is there.

This is only the first of many branded iPhone applications to come from artists and it’s actually not a bad idea. iPhone applications could be the new MySpace pages for artists - places for fans to learn about their favorite musicians and feel like they’re getting something special from being a part of this opt-in fan club.

Apparently, P!nk debuted at #1 in Australia, which is great news for her, and it’s great to see mainstream music and artists adopting the iPhone platform to connect with their audiences. We’d love to see some more interaction or fan communities that could be created from applications like these.

It’s a brave step into the mobile world and we commend the folks at Sony BMG and P!nk for taking that step, but we’d just like to see a little more before we decide that we want to carry the identity changing singer in our pocket all the time.