The internet may not be the death of the music industry

Interesting article in the Guardian today about Cheryl Cole's debut album which went on sale today.

Cole's debut single Fight For This Love is currently the fastest-selling single of 2009 and the album 3 Words is expected to be one of the biggest of the year.





One of the big reasons for the predicted success of the album, along with the stars memorable performance on hit TV show The X-Factor, is the clever marketing tactic employed by her label, Fascination Records, part of the Universal group.

As record sales continue to plummet (down a further 6% last year), there has been a massive increase in ways for music stars to connect with fans and Cole appears to have exerted some influence over nearly all of them.

A few examples include users on myspace getting a live web chat, Bebo viewers made videos for a chance to interview the star and on twitter, fans asked questions which Cole answered in a video on her website.

Being an avid music fan and harbouring a (possibly delusional) belief that I can make a career out of Music Journalism and also having a keen interest in new media technologies, this story was of particular interest to me.

The music industry is one of many that is in a state of flux with the evolution and development of new media technologies and in the face of falling sales and an increase in digital piracy, labels are having their hands forced into changing how the most integrated systems of PR and promotion operate.

As the Guardian article mentions, while high street record sales may have disappeared, there is still a huge range of online retailers that need to be catered for and Universal has done just that with Cheryl Cole's first album.

The biggest online retailer Amazon got 200 signed albums while HMV.com got personalised calenders and iTunes got an exclusive track and digital booklet.

With the inevitable emergence of more ways to buy and access new music, labels are going to have to do their best to keep up and continue to find new and interesting ways to promote their artists in order to see any potential return.