FUSE TV - Jack White Releases New Track Via Balloon

Jack White had to have known that when you release 1,000 flexi-disc records of your new single "Freedom at 21" attached to helium balloons on April 1, quasi-responsible journalists like ourselves will just assume this was some elaborate hoax. But no. These are just the things that Jack White does now.

To promote the April 24 release of Blunderbuss, the singer and friends launched the balloons from his Third Man Records home in Nashville. "Envisioned as an experiment exploring non-traditional forms of record distribution and a way to get records in the hands of people who don't visit record shops, the label was sure to use biodegradable latex balloons and all-natural twine in the process," the singer said in a statement.

So how many of the 1,000 records will actually be received by "people who don't visit record shops"? The release claims 10% of balloons are recovered, which, um, sure, if you say so, guys. So to recap: To get music to people who don't go to record stores, Jack White launched his track in the atmosphere where 90% of the balloons (and music) will go to die. 

Watch the balloon release below. The actual song hasn't popped up on YouTube yet, so we'll just assume there are a few hundred handlebar-moustached Nashville hipsters with a van, a GPS balloon tracker and some time still waiting for that track to hit the ground.