A recent article on The Unofficial Apple Weblog states that if you’re a musician and your music isn’t available on iTunes, then you don’t matter. Can this really be true? I understand that massive marketing and audience impact of having your information on iTunes, but to say iTunes is the Holy Grail of the music industry and they hold the key to being accepted is a little strong don’t you think?
How does this type of information impact Christian artists? What if you’re on iTunes, but you’re buried in separate levels of genres or lists, is it still worth the impact?
The article goes on to state that some artists intentionally avoid iTunes, the Beatles and Kid Rock for example. I think both of them are fairly popular don’t you think?
What’s the impact of MySpace visibility for an artist compared to iTunes? Why couldn’t there be a standard audio file format for all music that would be widely accepted, distributable and protected for publishers and musicians alike. You know, something like MP3!
I also had a thought yesterday. If one of the goals of selling albums is to get you to be more interested in the band or artist, and hopefully even attend a concert, why don’t they include some kind of coupon or voucher in every actual CD you sell. Wouldn’t you buy more albums if you got a $2 off coupon for your next album from the same artist or $10 off a concert ticket for the album? Make it like a rebate program or something.
What do you think?
