Elvis goes vinyl and digital
With high profile acts such as Radiohead (who has one of the ugliest web pages I’ve seen since I last accidentally stumbled onto a MySpace page) and Nine Inch Nails (a very nice website) trying out new song distribution methods, it’s no surprise that other acts would try out the waters as well. And of course since they are all ‘artists’ in one fashion or another, it seems that each has to do it a little bit differently from the last.
According to an article from Reuters, Elvis Costello will release his newest studio album on vinyl and will not press any CDs at all. In the package with the olde tyme vinyl record will be a redemption code to retrieve the songs via digital download. Yes this is certainly a new way to deliver the music. No I can’t see how it could possibly work out financially.
Considering that the average music listener more than likely hasn’t seen a record player in the past decade much less own one that works, I can’t see how this is a smart decision. I understand that the young generation today who has probably never heard of a record player before is not Elvis Costello’s target audience but I have to admit that I haven’t had a record player in the house since my Dad got rid of the old ‘Hi-Fi’ that also played 8-track tapes. In quadrophonic, I might add.
Sure I could go download the songs with that redemption coupon and I could then burn them to CD, but then what do I do with that big plastic disc with all the tiny grooves in it? Buy three more from the flea market and use them as place mats? Ooh… that’s actually not a bad idea….
So will not releasing this new album cut down in piracy? I’d say no. Like I just mentioned, people will just download the songs and then burn them to a CD to be played on a standard CD player. And once you have that anyone can rip it to DRM free digital files to be uploaded to the world. But does it matter? Probably not. The people who would buy an Elvis Costello CD are a dedicated (and small) group that will purchase whatever he releases. The people who go download a pirated copy are about 98% likely to NOT be his target customers anyway and they would never have bought the CD even if they found it in the bargain bin.
Now please, don’t take any of this as bashing Mr. Costello or his music. I think it’s great that he and others are trying new and inventive ways of music distribution. I like a lot of his older music but truthfully haven’t listened to anything new from him since probably 1994. With the exception of a few break-out songs back-in-the-day, he’s always been a bit of a niche artist. Of course that also gives him a lot of flexibility to try new things. And since I’m always rooting for the underdog, I hope he sees some success from this. I just don’t see it as likely though. Unless his fans just really want a new place mat.
