Ping, the music-themed social network that Apple launched with much fanfare on September 1 as part of iTunes 10, has had a rough time of it so far -- but for one week only, Michael Jackson has got their back with an exclusive single.
MichaelJackson.com announced this week that Apple’s Ping network has been chosen as the outlet to preview a third new song from his forthcoming album “Michael.” The song, “Much Too Soon,” was written by Jackson and the new album will debut in the U.S. on December 14.
“The song ‘Much Too Soon’ was written at the time of ‘Thriller,’” the website revels. “Michael always liked the song and would pull it back out of the vaults for each subsequent album project but never found the right home for it; on the new album it finds its place as the bittersweet closing to the stellar collection.”
Apparently, Ping users agree, with an overwhelming number of positive comments and “Likes” on the service after somewhat mixed reviews for the first two tracks previewed from the new album, “Breaking News” and “Hold My Hand.”
It will be interesting to see if the one-week exclusive brings a surge of new users to the much-lamented Ping service -- after all, those Michael Jackson fans are a devoted bunch. In any event, it’s a great move for the young social network and hopefully there will be more exclusives to come.
After you check out “Much Too Soon,” you can preorder the new Jackson album “Michael” right from iTunes for $11.99.
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