Let's say you're going to get your new digital-music site
all over the news today by announcing that it'll hawk exclusive tracks from multiplatinum artists when it launches. Wouldn't it be a good idea to feed these news outlets a link for your site, or to make the site
at least a bit Googleable so those people who want to snag a Killers Christmas track that somehow features both Elton John and Neil Tennant are able to? Sure, it may not go live until Dec. 1, but what's wrong with a preview page? Or a place where interested parties can sign up for future updates? By the time your site's launch rolls around, most people who browsed your press will probably have forgotten about the whole thing, and the music news sites you pitched will be reluctant to cover the same news twice. I mean,
I'm probably better off not hearing the Flowers/John/Tennant collaboration, but if you're trying to raise some money for a worthy cause, you may want to think of just how people will get to your Web site during the afterglow of your all-important initial press blitz. [
Billboard]
Idolator
The few remaining writers who make some money from writing record reviews must have been thrilled when The Killers' Day And Age got added to the release schedule, because the first few lines of their review were pretty much already written. You see, the Killers are from Las Vegas. Las Vegas has an image, promoted by the city's own tourism board, as being a glitzy city full of debauchery that never sleeps. Right? Well, it may be the popular conception of the city, but that doesn't mean that a) said idea is all that accurate or b) the city's image should be the premise of every single press piece. Although possibly not the most guilty party, Rob Harvilla trades in the stereotype in the Village Voice this week:
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In case you were wondering how the Week Of Big Albums Race is shaping up over in England, first-day sales totals have the Killers ahead of Axl and Co., 70,764 copies to 50,791. Some weirdo from X Factor named Rhydian is holding on to third; a bunch of priests are in the No. 4 slot; and Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak is well behind in fifth (16,530). Will Kanye fly to London and purchase 60,000 copies of his disc himself? Or will he just stick to some terse, all-caps blogging? It remains to be seen, but either way, something must be done. [
