JoSH, a band whose name is strategically spelled to annunciate the o as “oh” as opposed to the “ah” sound in the name “Joshua,” released an album in Pakistan one year ago, but it was not just any album.

With an impressive following in Pakistan, the group members approached McDonald’s restaurant with an idea— a vision. JoSH, made up of members Rup Magon and Q Hussain, wanted to make an exclusive deal with the ever-popular, fast food restaurant chain, where their new album would only be sold at McDonald’s for the first six weeks of release. No record stores, no Target, no Wal-Mart— strictly McDonald’s restaurants.

It was not easy to convince McDonald’s that their idea would be a raging success, but once they did, the drawing board became their playground. McDonald’s had just created a new sandwich, the grand chicken burger. The plan was that every customer who chose to supersize this value meal would receive a copy of JoSH’s new album, titled “Beyond Kismat.”

“Kismat” means, “luck,” in the album title, which holds a great, strong meaning. “Beyond luck— whatever you want in life is what you make it of it. It is one thing to dream, but it’s another thing to go do it. It is beyond luck or coincidence; it is beyond destiny. You create your own path—you create your own destiny,” Rup said.

McDonald’s told all of Pakistan about JoSH’s album release with 40X40 billboard pictures of JoSH with the grand chicken burger. All throughout the country, it was known that if you supersized this meal, then you’d receive a copy of Beyond Kismat.

McDonald’s took the place of the record company.

“Nobody buys CDs anymore,” Rup said.

The band supplied 6,000 copies of the album for McDonald’s to distribute throughout the six weeks. They all sold out in five days. At the end of the six weeks, 55,000 copies of JoSH’s new CD were in the hands of those who supersized the new McDonald’s sandwich meal. From marketing both the sandwich and the album, and distributing throughout the restaurants, the vision became not only a reality, but also a great success for both JoSH and the restaurant.

“It was a bunch of firsts; it’s not been done before,” Rup said.

JoSH made history with the idea to combine McDonalds and music, to reestablish a way to sell and distribute CDs, a rarity nowadays with iPods and phone apps for everything. JoSH went beyond it—Beyond Kismat—and sold 55,000 albums in six weeks through the partnership with McDonald’s.

Major American record companies and international music publishers called to hear how they got this deal with the restaurant chain, and how they made it so successful. He wanted to know their strategy, which took three years to plan and then convince McDonald’s that it would work for both of them.  This is a partnership that one would expect to occur in America or the UK, but this happened in Pakistan.

The band’s first single was called, “Pyar Ho Gaya,” and this third single will be released through Desi Hits— “Meri Dua,” a house remix, which translates to, “My Prayer.” The video is the third to be released from Beyond Kismat, yet it is the very first time that JoSH constructed a completely acting-based video. The scenes are a bit controversial with infidelity; the song is about a broken relationship. View it here:

“Beyond Kismat” is JoSH’s fourth studio album, and they have sold more than three million albums worldwide. Signed to Universal Music in India, the group is working on music for several Bollywood films to be revealed in the near future. You can follow them on Twitter— @RupMagon and @Qurram— to keep up with their latest expeditions and newest plans, as well as at www.planetjosh.com.