For anyone who might have thought the record industry was all out of fresh ideas, you're absolutely right. Near as we can tell, the last original idea they had was in 1984 when they changed formats and made us all re-buy our album collections on shiny silver discs. Ever since then, most of us have cackled with glee as the record industry has made one massive blunder after another, finally coming to resemble the bitter, decrepit old hag that it is now.
Thankfully, at least one band out there has a fresh idea of their own.
The Kaiser Chiefs (you know, the band that blasted onto the scene in 2005 with "I Predict A Riot", which, of course, was three albums ago) have just released their fourth album, The Future Is Medieval. Nothing new about that, right? Well, it seems the Chiefs have added a new wrinkle to the process of releasing a new album by posting 20 tracks on their website and allowing fans to create their own artwork and ten-song track listing. Pretty cool, huh? It gets better. If other fans purchase your version of the album, which will be made available on your very own web link, the band will give you a royalty rate of €1.10 ($1.61 to we Americans) for each copy sold.
We at The Shit think this is an absolutely brilliant idea. The band isn't just releasing an album to fans, they're recruiting each and every fan as a combination A&R/marketing director. With a little creativity, a few fans will be able to make some nice pocket change, one would think.
If done correctly, this could start a whole new wave of interaction between bands and fans, all the while breathing new life into the album format. Even better, it does so without the need for a record company. At all.
Fucking fantastic.
So, Mr. or Ms. A&R Director, click HERE to review the Kaiser Cheifs' new material and see if you can come up with a track listing other fans just cannot live without.