Billboard.com is reporting that Island Def Jam will include advertising in the new Mariah Carey album that is set to be released on September 15th. Great idea!
I just want to say that I've had this idea since 2006. The idea of incorporating sponsors and/or ads on a run of CDs would cut costs and keep money in the artists hands. This can even work on the local/unsigned level.
IDJ is taking a bigger step by incorporating 34-page booklet which is sponsored by Elle magazine. There are other branded companies within the booklet. It's not your typical "ad" campaign. To me, it's less intruding. The article says IDJ is working on similar ideas for Bon Jovi, Rihanna and Kayne West new albums.
But I don't understand why everyone is up-in-arms over this. Bob Lefsetz says in his blog that, "I truly thought this was a joke." He goes on to say, "If you can tell me how an ad in a CD booklet enhances the listening experience, I’m all ears." Bob, it doesn't enhance the listening experience. It's adapting to the current state of the music business without taking more money out of the artists pocket.
If these sponsorship/ad ideas help labels from NOT taking more money out of the artists hands (360-deals), then I'm all for it. This is exactly what labels should be doing. As a matter of fact, I've said for years that you can create a whole label built on sponsors/ads! As long as the artist was ok with working with the companies, why not? I would let my band have a logo of Honest Tea on the inside/back of their CD if they got a few $1,000 from it to help pay for manufacturing. Why not?
Plus, you would most likely have the companies supporting the artists on their websites and other marketing materials. Mariah's new album booklet will be included in a smaller form in over 500,000 Elle subscribers magazines. That could expose her to 10,000's of new fans!
Ad-supported models are popping up everywhere (no pun intended). I first came up with this plan in 2006 when I was planning to start a label. To offset costs, I wanted to bring in sponsors and advertisers on each run of CDs. I'm glad to see the labels starting to find other ways to make money other than taking it from the artists or the fans with higher prices.
On a fan level, how many of you would care about seeing advertising or sponsorship logos in your jewel cases?
