I don’t do “promotional” posts here because I don’t really see this blog as a place to push records. It’s more a place for me to talk about the things that I love. So instead of trying to get a post up quickly, I’ll give myself some time with a record to see how my impressions grow.
That said, every once in a while, I’m just too excited to wait. Today is one of those times.
The new Stars record is out. It’s called In Our Bedroom After War, and the official release date isn’t until September 25, but their label is releasing it for digital download right now. From the Arts and Crafts page:
Traditional music business practice says we are to begin sending out copies of this album now. We give advance copies to print publications in hopes of securing features that coincide with our September date. We meet with radio stations in hopes of securing airplay. etc, etc.
Inevitably someone will leak the album.
Throughout this process, the most important people in this value chain, the fans, are given only two options – wait until September 25th to legally purchase the new album or choose from a variety of sources and download the album for free, at any time.
We hope you’ll choose to support the band, and choose to pay for their album. However we don’t think it’s fair you should have to wait until September 25th to do so.
We believe that the line between the media and the public is now completely grey.
What is the difference between a writer for a big glossy music magazine and a student writing about their favourite bands on their blog? What differentiates a commercial radio station from someone adding a song to their lastfm channel? or their myspace page?As such, we are making the new Stars album available for legal download today, four days after it’s completion.
This is exciting to me both because the new Stars record is finally out (!!!!!!), but also because it’s a demonstration that there are labels out there who get that things are changing, and understand that the ridiculously long lead-time provided for albums puts those of us who love music in a difficult position. After hearing that the Stars record had leaked, I don’t think I could have held off from finding myself an illicit means of downloading it, but with Arts and Crafts making it available, I was more than happy to pay 10 bucks to get a legal copy of the new record from one of my favorite bands.
I hope other bands and labels adopt the same policy for their new releases. And I hope that you, the readers of this little blog, support a great band and a great label by taking the opportunity to go get yourself a copy.
As for me, I’ll be listening to this record tonight, and once I’ve had some more time to digest, I’ll be providing a full review.