Post by kaya on May 17, 2007 15:13:37 GMT -5
5/15/07, 3:27 pm EST
Bob Marley USB Album Release to Save Music Industry/Kill the CD
It’s looking like Bob Marley is going to change the future of music. Yes, Bob Marley, whose Exodus — to commemorate its 30th anniversary — will be the first album ever released simultaneously via USB Memory Stick and Micro SD card. (The move is somewhat strange, considering that Marley died before there was even an Internet, let alone USB ports, but then again Marley has always been known as a visionary.) Only 4,000 USB sticks will be released, donning the tell-tale colors red, green and gold. Also featured will be three videos from Marley’s 1977 show at London’s Rainbow Theatre.
So how will this affect a music industry already starved for sales? Labels, eager to repackage their classic rockers for a younger audience (we’re talking to you, Doors) could follow suit, re-re-releasing the music in the very portable new format. The Barenaked Ladies have already tried out the USB market, releasing their album Barenaked Ladies Are Me on stick. Nine Inch Nails used USB drives to generate interest for their album Year Zero. But Marley’s release is the first time a non-contemporary artist has gone USB with the backing of a major label (Universal Music Group). So if this pen-cap sized monster kills the CD, it will have been Bob Marley who helped open the gate.
-- Daniel Kreps
SOURCE: Rolling Stone
www.rollingstone.com
Bob Marley USB Album Release to Save Music Industry/Kill the CD
It’s looking like Bob Marley is going to change the future of music. Yes, Bob Marley, whose Exodus — to commemorate its 30th anniversary — will be the first album ever released simultaneously via USB Memory Stick and Micro SD card. (The move is somewhat strange, considering that Marley died before there was even an Internet, let alone USB ports, but then again Marley has always been known as a visionary.) Only 4,000 USB sticks will be released, donning the tell-tale colors red, green and gold. Also featured will be three videos from Marley’s 1977 show at London’s Rainbow Theatre.
So how will this affect a music industry already starved for sales? Labels, eager to repackage their classic rockers for a younger audience (we’re talking to you, Doors) could follow suit, re-re-releasing the music in the very portable new format. The Barenaked Ladies have already tried out the USB market, releasing their album Barenaked Ladies Are Me on stick. Nine Inch Nails used USB drives to generate interest for their album Year Zero. But Marley’s release is the first time a non-contemporary artist has gone USB with the backing of a major label (Universal Music Group). So if this pen-cap sized monster kills the CD, it will have been Bob Marley who helped open the gate.
-- Daniel Kreps
SOURCE: Rolling Stone
www.rollingstone.com