Is Kid Rock selling a hundred thousand CDs a week because his album is not available on iTunes?<\/p>\n
Last year, Jay-Z famously refused to sell his new album at iTunes because he thought it would break up the flow, that it needed to be heard as a whole.\u00c2\u00a0 Despite being available digitally at Amazon, as a full album only, "American Gangster" debuted strongly and soon fell down the chart.\u00c2\u00a0 Was this the lack of hit singles or the refusal to be on iTunes?<\/p>\n
Conventional wisdom is iTunes makes up approximately 30% of overall sales.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s certainly the largest music retailer in America.\u00c2\u00a0 But, you don’t have to buy the whole album, you can purchase only the track(s) you want.\u00c2\u00a0 Therefore, Katy Perry has a giant hit single and sells very few albums.\u00c2\u00a0 But is that because people believe she’s only worth the single?\u00c2\u00a0 That she’s not a career artist?\u00c2\u00a0 Or could it be that Katy Perry appeals to a young demo that has only known MP3s\/iTunes\/P2P, and only wants the single?\u00c2\u00a0 Would Katy Perry be better off if you could only buy her complete album?\u00c2\u00a0 Or, to put it another way, is her audience smart enough to steal just what it wants, or if there’s only an album available, will people buy the album?<\/p>\n
I’m thinking if Katy Perry’s "One Of The Boys" was only available as a complete package, she would have sold more albums.\u00c2\u00a0 Because hit songs engender impulse purchases.\u00c2\u00a0 You don’t debate whether to fill out your Neil Young collection with "On The Beach", you want "I Kissed A Girl" now, you want to hear it now.\u00c2\u00a0 And, the more casual the purchase, the less incentive there is to steal.\u00c2\u00a0 If you only buy a couple of albums a year, why bother stealing?\u00c2\u00a0 Why waste your time?<\/p>\n
And, if you steal, you could get a nasty virus.\u00c2\u00a0 Or be busted by the RIAA.\u00c2\u00a0 You could have a friend e-mail you the MP3, or burn you a copy of the CD, but maybe you want your own, maybe you want to look at the pictures.<\/p>\n
This does not mean the free transferability of music isn’t hurting sales, it’s just a question of how do you maximize sales now.<\/p>\n
And, by maximizing sales now, do you kill the artist’s career?\u00c2\u00a0 And help kill the sale of recorded music?<\/p>\n
The public may be ripped off, but they remember.\u00c2\u00a0 They remember overpriced CDs with only one good track.\u00c2\u00a0 This is an incentive to steal. So, are there short term gains and long term losses?\u00c2\u00a0 Furthermore, as a result of digital and iPods are we living in a singles world anyway, and is the album doomed?<\/p>\n
But, if thirty percent of sales are digital, you don’t want to leave that money on the table.\u00c2\u00a0 Which is why almost every act has made a deal with iTunes.\u00c2\u00a0 Even Metallica and Led Zeppelin.\u00c2\u00a0 But, is it helping them?<\/p>\n
My sources tell me that overall sales of Metallica and Led Zeppelin are up since their tracks became available on iTunes.\u00c2\u00a0 But, is it pent-up demand?<\/p>\n
How much pent-up demand is there?\u00c2\u00a0 Seemingly every kid has the greatest hits of Led Zeppelin on his hard drive already.<\/p>\n
It seems reasonable that if you’ve got a catalog, are a career artist, you should be on iTunes.\u00c2\u00a0 If for no other reason than all of your catalog is available.\u00c2\u00a0 Unlike at most big box retailers.<\/p>\n
But here we have Kid Rock burning up the chart, with the number 4 album last week, after 43 weeks on the chart, and "Rock N Roll Jesus" isn’t available as digital files online whatsoever.<\/p>\n
I’ll say that Kid Rock fans tend to skew older.<\/p>\n
I’ll say that Kid Rock is perceived to be a career artist.<\/p>\n
I’ll say that people believe Kid Rock is capable of putting out a complete album that is good.<\/p>\n
But I believe the number one reason that Kid Rock’s CD is flying off the shelf is because it’s a hit in multiple formats.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only is it number 6 on the Mediabase Top 40 chart, but it’s number 15 on the Country chart!\u00c2\u00a0 Mr. Ritchie is the beneficiary of 6216 spins on Top 40, where his track "All Summer Long" has been a chart feature for 12 weeks.\u00c2\u00a0 He got an additional 2550 spins on Country, where he’s been on the chart for 6 weeks.<\/p>\n
We know Top 40 sells product.\u00c2\u00a0 But records stay on the Country chart even longer.\u00c2\u00a0 And statistical analysis will tell you that the proportion of downloads to CDs is much lower in country.<\/p>\n
So, what we have here is a multi-format smash.\u00c2\u00a0 In a nation where many people have never even heard what’s number one on Top 40, this is incredibly significant.<\/p>\n
By the way, Jesse McCartney’s "Leavin’" is number one on Top 40.\u00c2\u00a0 Are you familiar with it?\u00c2\u00a0 I’ll tell you I’m familiar with it, but I’ve never heard it.\u00c2\u00a0 And I don’t care if I hear it, Jesse has never impressed me previously, and I’ve written him off.\u00c2\u00a0 So many of the Top 40 wonders are just that, one hit wonders.\u00c2\u00a0 With manufactured singles that have more to do with the producer than the artist.<\/p>\n
But country is different.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, producers are powerful and performers often don’t write their own material, but artists have three-dimensional identities, which their fans support.<\/p>\n
You think everybody knows what you do, is interested in what you are, but we no longer live in a monoculture.\u00c2\u00a0 If you want to sell a lot of anything, you’ve got to spread the word far and wide.\u00c2\u00a0 However, you risk burning out the core audience in the process.<\/p>\n
But Kid Rock has got a summer anthem.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not just another track.\u00c2\u00a0 I’d say his sales would increase with iTunes presence.\u00c2\u00a0 I say selling product only as albums online pisses people off.<\/p>\n
But, Katy Perry has got this summer’s number two song.\u00c2\u00a0 And she’s in a completely different category from Kid Rock.\u00c2\u00a0 She’s a newbie.\u00c2\u00a0 She’s a phenom.\u00c2\u00a0 Her sales are driven by both impulse and hysteria.\u00c2\u00a0 Still, she’s not the Jonas Brothers, she doesn’t have a full-fledged identity, people only want the novelty single.\u00c2\u00a0 But, if they were forced to buy the complete album…\u00c2\u00a0 But then you’ve got to go to a physical retailer, and physical retail is shrinking.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, you can buy the CD online, but most kids under twenty don’t have credit cards.<\/p>\n
I’m not exactly sure whether withholding product from iTunes would generate short term revenue for the Top 40 wonders.\u00c2\u00a0 But, I will say, it’s a digital world.\u00c2\u00a0 With singles ruling.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s only going to get worse.\u00c2\u00a0 Better to look forward than back.<\/p>\n
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