Cough up the bucks for Pono

Written by Shar on 12 March 2014

Neil Young signature Pono

After years in the making it’s official.

Neil Young’s music system baby “Pono” is now Live on Kickstarter, the world’s largest crowdfunding platform. The company’s mission is to help bring creative projects to life.

Righteous! (what Pono means in Hawaiian).

Woah! Check out the who’s-who of famous musicians talking up Pono in this video:

According to Kickstarter the project will only be funded if at least $800,000 is pledged by Tue, Apr 15 2014 12:30 PM CDT. The counter is clicking away. As of 8 p.m. on March 11 close to $700,000 has been raised by 2,133 investors who bought in. Minimum pledge was $1.

There are gifts for pledging. $5 pledgers get love and thanks! It goes up from there with T-shirts, posters, discounts on the Pono player, and artist series signatures Ponos from the likes of Willie Nelson,, Beck, CSN&Y, Tom Petty, Patti Smith, Pearl Jam and More.

Cost of the system is $399.

According to Neil: The record companies set their own digital music prices, label by label. High-resolution digital albums at PonoMusic.com are expected to cost between $14.99 -$24.99, and there may be exceptions. For this price you get the best quality digital music available anywhere, you own these albums forever – they don’t live only in the cloud, but also on your computer and backup disc, and you can play them anytime you wish on your PonoPlayer or other compatible devices.

We will also be offering many of your favorite individual songs. We’ll let you know the pricing soon.

About the shape:

“This triangular shape also has additional benefits: it can be held upright for one-hand operation or it can sit flat on your desktop or home stereo system. The display automatically rotates depending on the orientation of the device. But the best thing about this shape is that we were able to include the best sounding audio components with absolutely no compromises. The PonoPlayer will certainly be recognizable on your desk as the unique product it is – the world’s best sounding portable digital music player.”

It’s enough to make your head spin.

March 11, 2014 – (Santa Monica, CA.) – PonoMusic, a revolutionary movement conceived and founded by Neil Young with a mission to restore the soul of music, announced today that it is officially moving out of the R&D phase and is “open for business” with the launch of its Kickstarter campaign for the PonoPlayer.