Nike+ has been getting loads of attention since the landmark collaboration between the athletic megabrand and Apple launched back in July. There were the lines outside core sneaker shops worldwide for the super limited versions of the Air Zoom Moire shoes (the ones with the speckled soles) and a pervasive sense that this was a seminal partnership between two of the most visionary brands on the planet.

Since then, things have settled down a bit. Sure there was a very limited production of special all yellow Lance Armstrong kits complete with 8GB iPod, yellow Moires and a tee shirt which was given to A listers including John Mayer. There was also the introduction of Nike Workouts, a series of original music designed to soundtrack a workout, from warm up to peaktime to cool down. Building off of a long running series of music mixes originally intended for Nike Women which EMERGE programmed back before there even was an EMERGE, these Nike Workout mixes have come a long way.

While the first edition, currently available through ITunes for the standard album price of $9.99, features Las Vegas rave maestros Crystal Method, which is likely an apt if uncool selection in the vein of standard issue high energy fitness music, future editions look to be upping the cultural relevancy. According to insider rumors floating around the music industry, tastemaking producer and artist James Murphy aka LCD Soundsystem of groundbreaking disco punk label The DFA will debut his own 45 minute long set for Nike+ next week.

Composed of 5 original songs written and mixed together especially for this endeavor, the LCD Soundsystem Workout soundtrack should not be confused with Murphy's second LP, which is slated for release in early 2007. Nor should it be considered a selection of cast offs and b-sides. It is a fully formed, stand-alone set of original music created especially for this Nike/iPod collaboration. Adding to the excitement about this extremely tastemaker-oriented play by Nike is the news that in six months, all rights to the music will revert back to Murphy, whose label plans to release the music as a double 12" for DJs to get people sweating on the dancefloor.

While brands like Nike and Apple frequently turn to genre-defining artists to lend their products and campaigns credibility, this is the first time EMERGE knows of where these companies have stepped into the role of record label and commissioned commercially-releasable music from a Grammy-nominated talent for exclusive online distribution for a fixed period of time. As the music industry continues to wander in the darkness seeking a viable business model in an age of declining sales and rampant online piracy, such collaborations suggest a viable way forward.

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