Two for the price of one

Today I bought Rilo Kiley's new album Under The Blacklight. I had downloaded the album when it first came out, and although it's very different from their previous albums — they've pretty much abandoned their alt-country indie roots and sold out — I like it enough to warrant buying it. The real point of this post however is not to ramble on about the album, but to highlight an interesting emerging trend in the record industry.

I very rarely buy CDs; I prefer the sonic texture and warm feel of vinyl, and the price of a new LP is comporable to buying the same thing on disc — around the $35 mark.

The recent surge in popularity that vinyl has enjoyed (largely I think due to the indie rock scene releasing screeds of various 7" editions of singles, particularly in the UK) is something that the industry has become aware of, and they're trying to make the analog product as attractive as the digital one. In order to do that, they have to include bonus material to entice consumers, similar in a way to how DVDs include special features.

Instead of getting a coupon to download (presumably DRM'ed) mp3's of the album from the label's site, — like what accompanied The Shins' highly-anticipated Wincing The Night Away earlier this year — packed inside the gatefold slipcase was a promotional edition of the full album on CD.

I think this is a really good idea; although I already have a digital copy of the album (albeit an illegal one), I now have a physical copy of a disc that would have most likely just sat around the record label's offices waiting to be thrown out or sold on eBay. It makes you wonder though, if they can afford to give away promo discs with vinyl copies of albums — and not charge any extra — how much of a profit margin exists in the Compact Disc market?