Promotional lag: A jab at the Hutt

The music industry has a leak problem. Sure, it's not quite as bad as the fracking industry's leakage problems, as it's only music you can't buy yet leaking out, but it's still a problem.

Here's what happens: the music is finished. In order to "build buzz", the tracks are released to DJs and bloggers and other people whose mothers believe they don't quite have proper jobs. Sometimes, this can be getting on for two months ahead of when the record is actually in the shops.

In the industry's minds, this is supposed to create a vast army of people waiting outside the record shop on the Monday when the song is finally available, cramming money into the tills.

Instead, what happens is that a person hears a song they like, tries to buy it, fails, so snaffles an unlicensed version instead.

Most people looking at this problem would suggest that maybe the record business should start to sell music to people when it is available, rather than waiting a month.

The music industry doesn't see that as the solution, though, and instead has created a solution called the Promo Hutt.

The idea is that instead of waiting six weeks, now people will pay a subscription in order to get access to music six weeks before they could otherwise buy it.

Yes, the labels are trying to monetise their broken distribution system.

The obvious outcome of this - that there will be far, far more ripped copies of records you can't buy circling the internet - seems to have been missed.

Memo to the RIAA: Pop music isn't like stilton. You gain nothing by keeping it in a room for a few weeks while it develops a smell.

Music industry's new plan: Making records available to people

The heartbreaking thing about Universal and Sony's announcement that they're going to start selling records when they first appear on the radio rather than a few weeks later is that they're acting so proud that they've come up with the idea.

How proud?

Universal and Sony have both notified Ed Vaizey, the minister for culture and the creative industries, of their plans.

Yes, they're that proud. It's only taken them, what, nearly fifteen years to work out that spending a load of time and effort getting a song onto the radio and TV at a time when it's impossible to purchase legally is a bad business move?

I wouldn't be trumpeting this idea. It really should be the sort of thing you just do quietly in case people ask what took you so long.

Here we go, Hatherley, happily

Charlotte Hatherley - and we should point out that what we have built in the corner to her is an altar, not a full-blown temple, actually - is off out on tour to promote her single and album (I Want You To Know, February 26th and The Deep Blue, March 5th respectively). You can see her doing her thing here:

27th February - Glasgow Oran Mor
28th - Liverpool Academy
1st March - Leeds Cockpit
3rd - Birmingham Academy 2
4th - Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms
5th - Oxford Zodiac
6th - Islington Academy

Modest plans

From tomorrow, Modest Mouse's new album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, will be up for preorder on iTunes, ready for its release some time in March.

Are we the only people who are lost about the whole "pre-order on iTunes" thing? Surely the advantage of digital music is that it's instanteous; pre-ordering a download seems like ringing ahead to warn McDonalds they might need to get some patties ready. Sure, in this instance you get some free stuff - but most of it is, well, thin fare indeed.

Presumably, with such a long time between completion and delivery, the idea is to get the cash upfront before the thing leaks for free online?

Xymox could be Heroes

Clan of Xymox are preparing a new ep - or, really, some sort of single-cum-remix type thing. Included amongst the stuff, though, will be a cover of David Bowie's Heroes. It all proves, once again, the rule that, given time, every goth band will have a crack at something by the Thin White Dame.

There's also a DVD in the works, somewhere.

Racing Stripes

With the new White Stripes album leaking out onto the web, the release date has been bought forward by a whole week. This is, of course, really being done in response to the tracks getting out on the web, and isn't in any way a rather lame publicity stunt. Oh no.