You know that communication device that the world has been using in pretty much every household for the past decade, the Internet I believe it is called. Will someone please tell the major labels that it exists!
I cannot believe that in 2008 the new Daniel Powter has been released in Europe but won’t be released in the USA until 2009.Powter had that massive hit with ‘Bad Day’. His album went on to sell 3 million units.
The name Daniel Powter, although he only had one hit, has some currency for new music, especially based on those massive sales figures.
So why, oh why, is his record label completely ignoring his fan base and their ability to purchase (or steal) from anywhere in the world via the Internet.
Once something is out there, if labels let their bloated marketing plans get in the way, they are setting an artist up for failure.
Powter has a new album coming called ‘Under The Radar’. Ironically, it won’t be under the radar with fans at all. A fan-base with 3 million qualified music purchasers will know that he has new music out there somewhere and grab it from wherever that is.
They will either log in to an overseas store and buy it or they will go to a P2P destination and steal it. Either way, well before it is released in the USA, they will have it.
If they steal it, chances are they won’t buy it when it finally gets released.
A label that cannot get its head around a global release these days is a liability to the artist.
Trek back and see the road kill. Silverchair had no hope with their last album. It came out in the USA more than 6 months after the original Australian release. It stiffed when it was released in the USA. The core fans already had it, after importing it from Australia.
Australian exporter Rocket confirmed to Undercover that it shipped platinum out of Australia into the US. Rocket is also an ARIA chart store, so a platinum worth of sales were added to the Aussie figure and but sold in the American market.
The Veronicas are about to release their new album in the USA. Watch it fail. It is too late.
When labels ignore technology, the act suffers. You’ve heard of the information super highway. Labels seem to be doing a good job these days of breeding the highway roadkill.
