Artists are Relying on Promotional Schemes Nowadays..

In this music age where downloading music is the thing to do, artists are getting more creative in the promotion department. It's not as easy to sell a million records as it was years ago. Musicians have progressed to releasing double-disc CD releases in an effort to sell more records. Artists such as Beyonce, Nelly, R. Kelly, have ventured into this realm. Some artists have even added extra bonus DVD's to the CD package. Nowadays, many artists are re-releasing their albums and adding bonus songs. You may ask yourself why are they doing this? In my opinion, the answer is pretty logical. The music industry is trying to make as much money as they can, since record sales have declined throughout the years. So many artists have re-released their projects already this year, such as Rihanna, Alicia Keys, and Chris Brown.

Many people have predicted that we've approached the end of physical CD sales and I really believe that's true. Oftentimes, people download CD's or just get them free from various online programs. Rapper Commmon is relying on a promotional scheme by selling his latest project Universal Mind Control for 99 Cents on Zune.com on the first day that it's released. That's a pretty clever idea, but will it work? I am definitely interested to see how Common's plan will turn out. Lil Wayne is also trying something different with his upcoming album and will re-release the Carter III with completely new tracks. Even Q-Tip tried to jazz things up a little by releasing his album on Election Day. Before concluding, I have to ask myself if things will ever get better in the music department. I honestly don't think that it will. CD sales are continually declining and people are still downloading, but can we totally blame album sales strictly on downloading, however? I believe that there are a few answers to this question. First, the economy is definitely affecting the industry. Secondly, the current music material that artists are releasing is just not as appealing at it was years ago. Quite frankly, I believe that most of these albums nowadays are not even worth buying. Many artists are just not taking the time to release a good, quality album anymore. People want to feel like their money is well spent when they purchase an album. True, there are some jewels out there, but they are definitely scarce. Artists will continue to get creative with album releases and try different marketing schemes in an effort to get their fans interested in buying their albums.