iTunes Introduces Complete My Album:
Apple today announced Complete My Album, a groundbreaking new iTunes service that allows customers to turn their individual tracks into a complete album at a reduced price by giving them a full 99¢ credit for every track they have previously purchased from that album.
But no one wants — or ever wanted — albums. People just want music. The 40 minute album is an artificial construct, based on a form factor and the distribution channel built around it.
I can’t say I’m against Apple making some dough off this — I am wondering when the stock will split and increase my holdings — but I don’t get the completist thing at all.
If you like MOST of the songs on an album, why not spring for the whole thing? Buying only the songs that have a good preview clip can cause you to overlook some great things.
And dare I bring up concept albums, which are intended to be heard in their entirety? Not so common, of course.
By thw way, why can’t you buy CDs from the iTunes store? Seems like a huge opportunity missed.
Well, yes, if you like most of them. But is that all that common? How good are artists at coming up with 10-12 good tracks?
Concept albums are a different animal, of course. I’m talking about the usual single-based stuff you find on your radio. You like Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy, but do you want the whole album?
I’d submit that while not everyone wants an entire album, there are certain people interested in the entirety of a given artist’s work. It’s a lot more common to find artists release 10-12 good tracks if people don’t look/listen to the radio to find it. I think whole album is a good move, even if it only serves a subset of the typical iTunes demographic.
It was submitted to me that “CDs are so last century”.
I say, “No, CDs are still the best way to avoid DRM.” Even Bill Gates seems to agree.
My issues with the album as a construct stem from the pressure it puts on an artist to do the same thing — complete the album, ie come up with X number of tracks to fill out the form factor.
The CD just bumped the size of the package from 40 to 60 minutes, but now we have no size issues: a release can be one track or 50, two minutes long or two hours. Do we still need to release albums, with the attendant packaging, or will artists be able to make all-digital releases? Gee, next thing we’ll have artwork again.