Here's another way that online music sales are generating unexpected revenue for the recording industry. Apple's iTunes Music Store is selling older albums that have been re-released with additional tracks. They also are offering some new albums in two forms— regular-length and extended-length versions with bonus tracks.
As Mac OS X Hints explains: "Without iTunes, in order to get these extra tracks I'd have to buy a whole new album. Instead I can just buy the new tracks on their own."
I did something similar this week when I bought the new regular-length Jayhawks album at the iTunes store and then bought one of six bonus tracks that were available on the extended version. It's true I didn't buy the entire extended album, but I did spend 99 cents that I might not have otherwise.
While some bands in the past few years have been offering CDs in bonus-track versions, especially for early buyers, the online approach makes that possible with fewer production and inventory control headaches. Translation: Lower costs, more revenue.
It's easy to imagine a future where bands can release a few tracks here and there instead of saving them up for a traditional-length CD. That would create a smoother cashflow, particularly for less well-known artists just trying to pay the bills. It just goes to show that this whole issue is more complicated than the Recording Industry Association of America would have us believe. As any fan of capitalism knows, its genius lies in invention and imagination—not regulation.
