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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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7

Apple Teams Up With Record Labels to Revive the Album

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(Newser) – Apple has joined forces with four major record labels on a mission to get music buyers to start buying albums again instead of just single tracks, the Financial Times reports. The project—codenamed "Cocktail"—will bundle album downloads with lyrics sheets, sleeve notes, photos, and assorted interactive features in an effort to lure consumers into buying the whole package.

"It’s all about re-creating the heyday of the album when you would sit around with your friends looking at the artwork, while you listened to the music,” one Apple exec says. The project, which pairs Apple with EMI, Sony Music, Warner Music, and Universal Music Group, is being readied for a September launch. Insiders say it may be accompanied by the introduction of a new, tablet-sized Apple computer.

Apple aims to boost album sales by creating a next-generation, interactive version of the old format.
Apple aims to boost album sales by creating a next-generation, interactive version of the old format.   (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)
A window display for Apple's online music store iTunes at an Apple store in Santa Clara, Calif.
A window display for Apple's online music store iTunes at an Apple store in Santa Clara, Calif.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
iTunes' single sales are healthy but execs are trying to boost album sales.
iTunes' single sales are healthy but execs are trying to boost album sales.   (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon, file)
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weglad
Jul 27, 09 9:03 AM CDT
"...when you would sit around with your friends looking at the artwork, while you listened to the music" Presumably we all have to be stoned as well. Please don't tell me that we have to go through being told how significant the lyrics are.... Reply
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+2
cornfedj
Jul 27, 09 9:25 AM CDT
It would help if bands put out an album worth of great music. You don't see that much anymore. I would love to buy more albums if it was worth my money. Reply
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+8
Observer
Jul 27, 09 10:18 AM CDT
Nice idea. Artists release albums, not just singles usually. Have some respect for the compiation as well as the hits. There are many hdden gems in the thousands of LPs existing. Hits are just popular and not always the best music by an artist. "Exile On Main Street" is a prime example. Reply
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+3
ruserious
Jul 27, 09 10:38 AM CDT
Perhaps this would not be such an issue if so many "artists" didn't put out an album of crap with maybe one or two good songs. If it's a good album all the way through, people will buy the whole album. We don't need gimmicks and extras to tell us when someone has put out something good--we just need quality and a little bit of talent. Reply
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+5
partialobserver
Jul 27, 09 2:49 PM CDT
It would help if record labels signed artists with talent, and not just a pretty moneymaker who's willing to sacrifice artistic dignity for those extra zeros in his/her/their payout. Not to say there aren't talented artists signed to major labels, just lots of people in it for the money, like everyother American art form today. Reply
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