{"id":406262,"date":"2010-03-09T03:00:40","date_gmt":"2010-03-09T08:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=104498"},"modified":"2010-03-09T03:00:40","modified_gmt":"2010-03-09T08:00:40","slug":"apple%e2%80%99s-itunes-lp-6-months-later-lp-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/406262","title":{"rendered":"Apple\u2019s iTunes LP 6 Months Later: LP What?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>When it was first unveiled<\/a>, Apple\u2019s new iTunes LP format<\/a> -\u2013 codenamed \u201cCocktail\u201d and introduced at a \u201crock and roll event\u201d in San Francisco -\u2013 promised<\/a> to give consumers a new reason<\/a> to buy albums instead of individual songs. Offering expanded cover art, lyrics, videos, animation and other digital goodies, iTunes LP was intended to evoke the feeling of spinning an LP record and holding the jacket in your hands. Especially when paired with a tablet computer<\/a> (then rumored, now real<\/a>) that would provide a new way to view large-format art, consumers were promised a digital experience that mimicked a physical one.<\/p>\n

Six months later, however, iTunes LP doesn\u2019t prompt much consumer recognition, and none of the industry sources with whom I spoke said they viewed it as being anywhere close to game-changing from a format perspective. Rather, it’s considered more of a curiosity. Like an enhanced CD or a DVD packaged with a physical album, iTunes LP\u2019s bonus materials may interest super-fans, but they aren\u2019t generating much buzz among mainstream consumers, and don\u2019t appear to be stimulating LP sales at all. “It’s something most people will look at once,” is how one person put it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s somewhat ironic that the very company that atomized the album in order to sell individual tracks -\u2013 one of many causes for the music industry\u2019s decade-long tailspin \u2013- has encouraged the rebundling of songs with iTunes LP. But I\u2019m told by an industry source who preferred to remain anonymous that iTunes LP wasn\u2019t Apple\u2019s idea in the first place. Rather, it\u2019s the result of the same renegotiations between Apple and the major record labels that yielded<\/a> DRM-free songs and flexible pricing early last year, a concession by Cupertino to make a gesture in favor of album sales as consumers increasingly show a preference for digital singles.<\/p>\n

One person who worked on an iTunes LP project said Apple subsidized the initial group of LP editions, which were created by the company\u2019s handpicked third-party developer at costs of up to $60,000. All are issued in \u201cdeluxe edition\u201d releases that feature extra tracks, typically priced a few dollars higher than iTunes\u2019 customary $9.99. Neither Apple nor anyone else I spoke with was able to break out sales figures, but sources in various parts of the music industry agreed that the financial impact of iTunes LP on record sales has been tiny, if it\u2019s had any effect at all.<\/p>\n

Only 29 LPs are currently for sale in the iTunes store, about a dozen of which were available when the format was launched. Several are catalog albums, meaning that only a couple of new releases each month appear as iTunes LPs. The same person who participated in an iTunes LP project said, \u201cIf it costs $50,000 or $60,000, we\u2019re not going to do it again,\u201d although at the same time, acknowledged that Apple\u2019s extra promotion of the release in conjunction with iTunes LP helped it become a moneymaker after all.<\/p>\n

Not every project will cost so much. Apple opened a developer kit<\/a> for iTunes LP in the fall, enabling artists to craft album packages independently. Direct-to-fan marketing tools developer Topspin Media<\/a> handled a December release for Pixies spinoff band The Everybody<\/a>, touting it<\/a> as the first iTunes LP release sold outside the iTunes store. But a Topspin spokesman told me interest in iTunes LP was generally quite meager among artists with which Topspin had worked.<\/p>\n

Although the format was initially seen as tailor-made for tablet computing, Apple hasn\u2019t yet done much to promote the iPad as a music device. When Jobs stepped onstage again in January to introduce the iPad, iTunes LP was barely present. The music segment of the presentation was less than 60 seconds long, and although an iTunes LP was visible as Jobs spoke, he never mentioned the format. No one I spoke to said the imminent availability of the iPad had generated interest in new iTunes LP projects.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, most artists and labels are pursuing a different avenue for their digital goodies: iTunes\u2019 wildly popular App Store. Numerous artists have released lyrics, videos and other content in both free and paid apps, which also serve as channels for artist news and can be updated with new content anytime.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still possible that once a few million iPads are in consumers\u2019 hands, and with a few more ambitious iTunes LP releases — like the 760-megabyte package for the new album from Gorillaz<\/a> — the format will prove to be an essential component of a digital album. It\u2019s also possible that iTunes LP will continue to have a miniscule financial impact on record sales, merely providing a small bonus for a dwindling audience of album-oriented fans. At least with its effort and investment in the format, Apple can say it made a redoubled effort to undo the damage it did to last century’s record industry by selling songs one at a time.<\/p>\n

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