Rethinking the Album

Is the album dead? Yes. The sale of a physical cd/album will never again reach the peak of 1999. Yet that is not stopping Mariah Carey from experimenting with a fresh concept for her upcoming album.

Mariah will be working in conjunction with Elle magazine to create a 34 page magazine-style album insert. This insert will include advertisements to help allay the cost of the album.

This is interesting in the sense that it uses a similar approach to online content. Artists, YouTube, MySpace can place advertisements next to their online content for some additional income. Now, Mariah is doing the same thing but in a physical album format.

This will in no way revive overall album sales, but it could have an impact with Mariah’s die hard fans. The magazine insert will contain exclusive content and information. When individual tracks become a commodity, offer additional content that is harder to replicate.

The album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, is set to be released in August for some parts of the world, and September for the USA.

Stay tuned,
Erik
erikrostad.com
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