Jay-Z bans songs on iTunes in album controversy
updated 02:45 pm EST, Thu November 8, 2007
Jay-Z bans songs on iTunes
Hip hop star Jay-Z has banned his latest album from Apple's iTunes Store, saying that wants the "work of art" to be enjoyed in its entirety. The album, titled American Gangster and serving as the 'imaginary soundtrack' for the film of the same name, is not to be offered as individual tracks via iTunes as is customary of most works sold via Apple's digital storefront, according to WCCO.com. The decision comes after rock band Radiohead chose to sell their works only as complete albums.
British direct download service 7Digital predicts that the key to selling entire albums lies in the absence of digital rights management, or DRM for short. DRM technology protects digital media, preventing users from illegally copying or playing the content. Apple's iTunes Store still dominates digital media sales, and many industry experts cite individual track purchases as an important reason for the company's success.
The recent introduction of unprotected MP3 versions of songs that play without restrictions has encouraged users to purchase more music than they have in the past, including full albums. Some 80 percent of tracks purchased through 7Digital's store are now DRM-free, with 70 percent of those sales consisting of full albums rather than individual songs, according to Electronista.
my, my...
11/08, 03:47pm reply
Aren't we just a lil full of ourselves.
So by his logic, no single song should be played, hence no songs should be allowed radio play. Anyone wanna take bets one of these songs will get radio play??
He should also come up with a format that only allows people to play the CD from start to finish without skipping songs. After all, we wouldn't want to ruin his *COUGH* work of art...
eldarkus
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Joined: Feb 2004
Don't they get it
11/08, 03:53pm reply
We (consumers) don't want to buy s*** we don't want to listen to.
l008com
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Joined: Jan 2000
no_
11/08, 04:17pm reply
it will get radio play_ But the deal will be the same as the gripe about iTunes that the radio station has to play the Album in it's entirety from start to finish in the pre-ordained order_
What I'm more surprised about is that if he was quoted correctly that he knew the word "entirety"_
UberFu
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Joined: Oct 2002
Art?
11/08, 04:20pm reply
What is that? Another (c)rap artist pretending to be talented? So long, sucker.
ricardogf
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Joined: Jan 2003
Album Only Sales
11/08, 04:40pm reply
Actually, he could sell it in it's entirety on iTunes, making each song available as "Album Only."
By the way, using the Radiohead model may not be a good thing.
Over 40% paid NOTHING for In Rainbows. For those that paid, the average price was $6
I personally think their fans took advantage of them, and Jay-z may find himself in a similar situation.
dynsight
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Joined: May 2005
Jay-Z's real agenda is...
11/08, 04:48pm reply
he is forcing the sale of CDs so that he can tie Elvis' record for 10 consecutive #1 album debuts. The Beatles hold the record and Elvis is in second. Jay-Z also released his album during a week where he saw very little competition from other artists.
The album will eventually appear on iTunes once he realizes he lost 30% of his first week sales by pulling it. I was reading some hip-hop forums and a lot of fans were pissed he pulled it. A lot of them were downloading it for free from torrent sites just to spite him.
zdezyne
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Joined: Feb 2001
works for me...
11/08, 04:51pm reply
seeing as how i don't care for Jay-Z anyway, he's more or less "banned" from my iTunes already.
stainboy
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Joined: Sep 2005
re: album only sales
11/08, 06:02pm reply
By the way, using the Radiohead model may not be a good thing.
Over 40% paid NOTHING for In Rainbows. For those that paid, the average price was $6
And Radiohead is happily chortling all the way to the bank. This is a heckuva better return that they would have gotten from the industry.
They've made somewhere in the vicinity of 2-6 million in about a month.
This on an overhead MUCH lower than what the recording industry would charge.
johnsonua
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Joined: Aug 2003
Re: no
11/08, 06:27pm reply
it will get radio play_ But the deal will be the same as the gripe about iTunes that the radio station has to play the Album in it's entirety from start to finish in the pre-ordained order_
Sorry, but that be wrong. Radio stations, by pre-ordained order, are allowed to play any freakin' thing they want, in any order, in any way. The artist has no control over how it might be played.
testudo
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Joined: Aug 2001
It's their prerogative
11/08, 06:32pm reply
Jay-Z and Radiohead have every right to sell their album in however manner they wish. I mean, they have control over how they compose their songs before they're released, right? This is just an extension of it.
It's not unlike when Prince put all of the songs in his album into one CD track. (Gosh, I can't remember the album's name, but the cover still haunts me.)
broohaha22
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Joined: Jul 2006