Popular music magazine Rolling Stone is available on the iPad as of today, bringing breaking music news, album and movie reviews, and rock star profiles to your tablet.
The app, in addition to including content found in the print version of the magazine, will feature interactive media support that includes exclusive photos and instant streaming music samples. Articles will also contain links to purchase songs directly from iTunes.
Rolling Stone on the iPad is a welcome addition. Two years ago, Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner said that magazine publishers’ rush to create digital magazines for the iPad was “premature.” Rolling Stone’s parent company, Wenner Media, clearly agreed and opted to give the new medium time to mature before making the leap to the iPad.
According to Wenner Media, the launch of the app is part of a “planned progression” that was implemented in May of 2010 with the launch of the Rolling Stone’s Beatles guide app. Previously, there was a version of Rolling Stone available via Zinio, but this new iPad edition has been specifically optimized for Apple’s tablet.
Rolling Stone is currently offering a free one month trial subscription so you can give it a try before opening up your wallet. After the free month, you can buy a single issue for $4.99, purchase a subscription for $1.99, or buy 12 months of the magazine for $19.99. The app itself can be downloaded for free from the App Store.
Unfortunately, unlike some other magazine offerings on the iPad, the digital version of Rolling Stone will not be bundled with the print version of the magazine.
