Music Industry

Should We Stagger Album Releases and Streaming Debuts? Maybe We Should Think About Adopting the DVD/Netflix Model

This comes from Edmonton’s Danny Fournier. Anyone see any fault in his proposal?

No surprise, after her first week, Adele’s new album 25 is the number one album according to Billboard and has broken a handful of records. When the album first came out one of the things that stood out to me, was the attention that was being put on the fact that the album was not going to be available on Spotify and other streaming options.

Supposedly fans were outraged…but that didn’t stop them from buy the album. In fact some would argue that a large portion of the sales were due to the fact that the album wasn’t online with easy access to listen to. You wanted to hear it, you need to buy it.

This isn’t the first time an artist has withheld their music from streaming services. Last year Taylor Swift wouldn’t allow her album 1989 to be streamed. That same album ended up being the biggest selling album of the year, which I’m sure Adele is on the path to being this year.

So is this an indicator of the impact Spotify and other streaming sites have on sales. Possibly. Probably. Are streaming options bad for the industry? I think under the current model, yes they are. But that doesn’t mean they’re 100% negative. I like streaming sites, especially ones that create an opportunity for new music discovery, but I think the current model being used that includes streaming sites for music releases is wrong.

My gut is telling me that the music industry should follow the movie industries model and where movie streaming fits into that. Major releases don’t end up on Netflix until after they’ve done a run in the theatres. It’s going to be a while before you see Star Wars The Force Awakens on Netflex or any other similar services. The same will happen with the Adele album. So why not do that with more albums?

Read the rest here.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38019 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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