AUSTIN, Texas (TheStreet) -- In a show appropriately resembling an Apple (AAPL) product rollout, Neil Young took the stage at SXSW Tuesday to present his new music media "eco-system," PonoMusic.

"'Pono' means the one, the whole," Young said. "It's a Hawaiian word."

The iTunes-like product for distribution of ultra-high-quality digital audio files includes an online store of downloadable files from major and independent labels, a software library that lives on the customer's device and a triangular piece of hardware about the size of a mobile phone that can fit in a pocket and can hold hundreds of albums of high-quality audio.

Musicians and their audiences like the sound, he added, because "Pono is about the music. It's about the people making the music. ... It's about making you hear what we hear."

"Can we get like a rebate?" one member asked. The basic answer came from Hamm: If you want the highest audio quality, then yes, you'll have to buy it again. Listeners may want to transfer their library of digital files to the Pono player for convenience, but those files don't take advantage of the high-end technology. It's possible to transfer CD audio or vinyl into a high-resolution digital audio file that will then be playable on Pono, but involves considerable investment of the user's time. It is doubtful that Pono alone can change the music market, which in the last few years has started trending toward streaming music through subscription services, with album sales to consumers becoming less of main source of revenue. But raising the bar on the listening experience could well have a significant impact across all channels. "It's a no-lose situation," Young said. "We win. Everybody wins." Pono's Kickstarter campaign has gained significant ground in its early stages. While it still had fewer than 4,000 backers Wednesday morning, it has already well exceeded its goal of $800,000, at a pledged amount of $1.28 million. Asked by a member of the audience who his running mate would be in a bid for president, Young acknowledged that David Crosby would be a bad choice for a ticket, although of Stills he said, "He is politically very savvy."

Taking a more circumspect strategic pose, he added: "You know, I don't think we should try, I think we're gonna lay back and we're just gonna let the opportunity kinda float by." -- Written by Carlton Wilkinson in Austin, Texas

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