Today's USA Today told of the Fugees - the American soul/urban music band - who have released three new tracks as MP3 songs on Verizon's network.
Nothing new about that. For five years already we have seen pop artists release ringing tones first to mobile phones before the same songs were released on other formats; and since 2003 we have seen artists release full-track MP3 songs to mobile phones before they are released on music CD's or other formats.
But this is a radical new step. The Fugees said that these three songs are NOT being pre-released, from an upcoming music CD. They are just new songs, and their first sales outlet is the mobile phone. As of now, the Fugees have no plans to release those songs in any other formats !!!
They may show up in an upcoming CD or maybe on i-Tunes and other MP3 sales channels, etc. But not necessarily. The Fugees have estimated their fan base and the penetration of mobile phones, and have targetted to hit a million sales with one of the three - which in America is equivalent to being a platinum seller. Except that on mobile phone sales, the band makes much more per track than they would on any other formats.
Expect this pattern to repeat in many ways. Not only that the mobile phone is used to pre-release content like previews of TV soap operas and videogames - but actually to test-market content. We are likely to see more innovators exploring this in the near future.
Watch this space...
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