The music industry is exactly what it specifies, an industry. An efficient, though flawed, system through which products are advertised, distributed and sold to the consumer. One of those aforementioned flaws is how often albums illegally make their way into people’s ears, sometimes long before they are intended to. This occurrence has frequently led to diminished sales because consumers feel no need to purchase something they can get for free.
Kanye West and Jay-Z have accomplished something revolutionary in this digital age. As the release date approached for their collaborative album “Watch the Throne”, days past without their album leaking and when the clock struck midnight Sunday night and Monday arrived, the album had successfully escaped that flaw.
West and his studio engineers reportedly took extra measures to ensure that the album stayed in their proverbial hands and somehow, some way, it worked.
In a rare movie, the duo decided to release Watch the Throne first to iTunes exclusively on August 8 and then the album was released in physical form exclusively to Best Buy on August 12.
The album did not reach the broad-range of retailers until August 23.
The reason they chose to distribute their album this way is because the source of album leaks is commonly the distribution process itself. Albums typically arrive in the backrooms of their retailers’ often a week prior. Once the album ships, it’s only a matter of time before somebody takes the album and uploads it to the masses.
It’s also a miracle that a fellow co-worker or acquaintance didn’t upload any of the music during the recording process. This has also become a big problem for many artists. Whatever precautions they took to keep that from happening worked.
Salute revolutionary marketing and get this album at your earliest convenience!
I picked up my copy at a Best Buy in Kanye’s hometown of Chicago!
CMC